Heaven Coming Down
by Joseph B
Summary: "Alternate realities are just the results of something --sometimes even the tiniest things-- happening just slightly different than they happened in this reality. For instance . . ." ~Anya
1. Prologue - 03

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Buffy

thevampire slayer

"HEAVEN COMING DOWN"

by

Joseph B

Disclaimer:--Copy/paste standard disclaimer here--Poppa Joss created all.I'm just along for the ride, and DAMN the scenery sho' is pretty!

Author's notes:Here, I usually post the timeframe in the series where my stories take place, but it's not that simple with this story.However I'm hoping I provided enough details to not confuse anyone.Let's just say anything before the fourth season finale is fair game.

I started writing this story before the fourth season began so minor things about certain characters may be different with what was revealed about those characters during seasons four and five --in otherwords, I was "Joss-ed", but it's all good.And this is the longest story I've written so far, or at least it will be when I finally finish it.But I'd say it's two-thirds complete right now, and depending on the site, I'll try to make an update about every other day, so hopefully I'll be done with the story by the time I posted all the completed chapters.

Dedication:For Kristen.

Teaser:"Alternate realities are just the results of something --sometimes even the tiniest things-- happening just slightly different than they happened in this reality.For instance . . ." ~Anya

PROLOGUE 

How it starts.......

February, 1999

Anyanka opens the door to her room and dumps her books unceremoniously on the floor.She slumps down on her queen size bed and falls back across the mattress.God, how she hated Sunnydale, she thinks, and not for the first time.Nor the hundredth time.

Like all demons, she had felt the lure of the Hellmouth as soon as she set foot on this continent.With a little will power she could have easily resisted its power; one such as her could not exist in this world for over a thousand years without being careful, but it was also her nature to seek out anything emanating such strong mystical forces, and she was unable to resist the temptation to try to tap into that source to increase her own powers.

What a mistake that had been, she tells herself.

Upon arriving in Sunnydale she found an ample supply of scorned women just waiting to wish harmful fates on their former boyfriends within Anyanka's earshot.But there was one young woman who's pain had overshadowed all the rest.

Cordelia Chase.

She had caught her then boyfriend, Xander Harris, cheating on her with his childhood friend, Willow Rosenberg.The little tramp, Anya curses the supposedly shy redhead.She touches the side of her left cheek with her finger tips at the slight swelling the little bitch gave her by punching her out last night.

"If I still had my powers she would never dare strike me," she says to her empty room, which, over the past few months had become a very apt listener to her plight.Little did she know there was a very weak ghost trapped in this very room for penance from a previous life --which is not important to this story-- such was sometimes the consequence of dying on the Hellmouth, but had this ghost been able to it would have told her to shut the hell up long ago.

Of course, if she still had her powers, none of this would have happened.

Rarely had she come across a woman suffering as much pain as this Cordelia Chase, so it was her sacred duty as Anyanka to grant this mortal her wish of vengeance.So, as she normally did, she took on a mortal guise that would allow her the best opportunity to get close to Cordelia.That of a rich senior at Sunnydale High School.

Even though she had not intended to stay in this form for more than a couple of days, a few at the most, she made sure to make her disguise complete.She had used her powers to set herself up in a house befitting one of Cordelia's crowd, with a nice car, and two phantom parents with just enough money that even God wouldn't laugh at.Okay, maybe not God, who cared not of monetary wealth humans strive to acquire, but Zeus definitely wouldn't laugh.And she should know, for Anyanka's heard him laugh a few times.Some of the most devastating earthquakes in history resulted from his chuckles, she reflects.

So, with everything set, she began her mission to grant whatever wish Cordelia would wrath upon her unsuspecting ex.Once meeting Cordelia, it had only taken two days to lure her into telling Anyanka her wish.

"I wish Buffy Summers had never come to Sunnydale!"

Huh? had been Anyanka's first thought.But it was Cordelia's wish so she was more than obligated to grant it.

What had resulted from that simple wish was of a cataclysmic scale second only to an Ascension.And Anyanka should know --well, you get the picture.The only thing she could not lay claim to have witnessed would be the Crucifixion.

As it turns out, this Buffy Summers just so happened to be the Slayer of this generation.Her never coming to Sunnydale allowed The Master --a master vampire with enough testosterone to declare himself THE master of all vampires, what nerve!-- to free himself from his prison in the Hellmouth.As a result Sunnydale had been overrun with his vampire legions, turning practically half the population within a couple of years.

Discovering what kind of world she had created, Cordelia took it upon herself to try to correct things, seeking the help of the school librarian who should have been Buffy Summers' Watcher.The man had the infuriating gull to summon her, Anyanka, with a spell to be used only by women scorned.

And just before Anyanka was about to crush the librarian's neck, rip out his throat, and disembowel him --not necessarily in that order-- he had deprived her of her necklace, the source of her powers, and smashed it!

With a paperweight, of all things!

Needless to say, Cordelia's wish was undone and everything was reset to the exact moment she had made the wish, but this time Anyanka was unable to grant it. No one, not even Cordelia remembered anything that had happened during the time in that alternate reality.Which was probably fortunate for them, she thinks, considering most of them died.

The loss of her powers had left her mortal, stuck in the persona of an eighteen year old senior attending Sunnydale High.And she had lost everything, the mansion, the car, the unreal parents, but, most importantly, the money in their false checking account.But it seems that fate is not without a sense of humor.The short time that false checking account existed, it did manage to accumulate an amount of interest --in real money-- that was all that was left to Anyanka, Anya now.Even though substantial by mortal standards, the money would eventually run out, but it did allow her to acquire a suitable apartment, a used car, and --by the Gods-- grocery and laundry money.

Sighing, she gets up from the bed.But this was only until she could find a way to get her powers back.Her latest attempt had met with failure.Failure in the form of Willow Rosenburg.Two of them.The shy innocent --make me gag-- Willow of this insufferable reality, and the vampire Willow from the reality where her necklace was destroyed.Somehow, while trying to retrieve her necklace from that reality, with human Willow's help, they had freed the vampire Willow instead.

The fanged redhead had wreaked havoc until Buffy, Willow, and the rest of her friends were able to send the toothy dominatrix back to her world, hopefully to meet her doom at the end of something sharp and wooden.

Anya smiles at the thought, but quickly winces from the pain in her cheek.She decides it's time to put more ice on it before it begins to swell anymore.Heading for the door of the bedroom she catches a glimpse of herself in her full length mirror.She stops in front of it and takes a closer look at her cheek.

Her reflection was that of a normal looking young woman.Not the most attractive image she could have given herself, --from past experience, making herself as beautiful as possible often led to more problems, what with her distaste for the male species and their need to get close to attractive females-- but she didn't get these features from the thrift shop either.Her very light brown hair was straight and trimmed neatly to shoulder length, but at least she had finally mastered shampoo and conditioning; already well aware of the techniques of such mortal rituals she just never had the practice.She never had a need to with her powers.

She scowls again at her reflection, at the thought of her lost necklace.The bruise on her cheek, barely concealed by makeup --another ritual still new to her-- fed her anger further.

If only there was some way she could make Willow and all her friends suffer, as she was suffering.Make them all grovel at her feet, as she told them all last night during the spell ritual to send the vampire Willow back to her world.

"I wish I could turn their world inside-out," she tells her reflection.

Right before her eyes, her reflection suddenly transforms.It's skin shrinks against its skeletal frame, veins and tendons popping out under thin, wrinkled flesh.Anya instantly recognizes the form of her true self, revealed only when she is using her powers.She quickly brings her hands up and looks at them.Her reflection is no longer mimicking her moves, and she sees that the flesh of her hands and arms are still normal.She touches her face and feels only smooth skin.She gazes at her demon reflection again and her eyes open even wider when she sees the necklace it's wearing.

Her necklace.

Before she can reach out to the mirror, for her necklace, the demon on the other side of the glass pierces Anya with its eyes.

"Done!"

Then she is swallowed by a bright flash of light.

With a gasp, Anya bolts straight up in bed and finds herself sitting in the exact same spot.Her hand instantly goes to her chest, where her necklace would usually rest, but finds that it's still not there.Human dreams were also new to her as well, but out of all the dreams she's had since becoming mortal, this was by far the most real.She had dreamt of getting her powers back many times; before realizing dreams were not real, she had thought it was some kind of cruel torture sent by the gods to punish her, but this was the first time she had ever dreamt of granting her own wish.

Was it a dream? she asks herself.

It couldn't possibly have been real.For one thing, she did not have her necklace and she knew of no other entities, demon nor god, who could grant wishes.But then again, it was a big etherverse, she sighs.

"Humans would blame this on pepperoni or anchovies, or both," she says to her empty room.Then her stomach growls, reminding her that she was also human.

With a groan she stands up and walks to her door but stops as she glances in her mirror.

"Was it a dream?" she asks it.

Her reflection doesn't answer.

Shrugging, she heads off to the kitchen to satisfy this unusual sensation of hunger.

The ghost, that would remain trapped in this very room for all eternity, perks with interest for the first time since it had mortally died.If it were able to emit sound in the material world, Anya might have heard it say....

"This can get very interesting.Damn!And I'm gonna miss it!"

**End of Prologue**

FIRST THREAD: Part one 

Now it begins......

May,1998

Buffy entered the cemetery and scanned the area warily, muscles relaxed, but ready to respond to attack.The nearly silent hush of the wind was her only company as her boots crunched softly on the manicured grass.

There was no sign of him.

The vampire he had sent to her, earlier that day, had given her life just to deliver a message on his behalf, before bursting into flames in the sunlight.Surely he wouldn't go to such extreme measures just to lure her out here for nothing? she thought.He definitely had something up his sleeve.A trap maybe?He never ceased to surprise her.

It didn't matter.Giles and the others were back at the library working on the Restoration Spell to recurse him.Give him back the soul he lost when she had . . . when they had . . .

The longer he kept her waiting, the more time he gave Willow to complete the spell.And Kendra was there to look after them, should anything unexpected happen.She had faith in Kendra, as well as her skills as a Slayer.True, the exotic girl had only been a Slayer for one year, but she had been training practically her entire life for the day she may be called upon to fight the demons and vampires.Buffy herself had only been fighting for over two years now.

Kendra could take care of herself, Buffy assured herself, even though she could not shake the uneasiness that had been nagging her ever since leaving the library.Those were the same words Buffy had said when Kendra suggested she should accompany her to the cemetery.Kendra had heeded but not without giving Buffy her favorite stake.Mr. Pointy, she had named it.

The deadly stake was hidden under her blue coat, but she was hoping she would not have to use it.It was her last resort, if the curse did not work she would use the stake to kill him.She knew she was finally ready to kill him.She had been more than willing for the past three months now.

As it turned out, she didn't have to wait long.

"Hello, lover," said the demon, inhabiting Angel's body, as he stepped out from behind a small tomb.He was decked out in his Sunday blacks, from his leather boots to his long duster, that hung nearly to his ankles.Buffy stopped as he smiled at her.A smile that no longer resembled the smile she loved to receive from *her* Angel.

"I wasn't sure you'd come," Angelus said.

Buffy did nothing to keep the scorn out of her voice."After your immolation-o-gram?C'mon, I had to show."She knew how much he loved to boast.If she could keep him talking a little while longer she could give Willow that much more time for the spell.

"Shouldn't you be out destroying the world right now," she went on."Pulling the sword out of Al Franken or whatever his name is?"

Angelus shrugged, off-handishly."There's time enough.I wanted to say good-bye first.You are the one thing in this dimension I will miss."

Anger bubbled up inside Buffy and she suddenly didn't feel like talking to him anymore.This demon who had all of Angel's memories to use against her, to seek out her vulnerabilities the way only a lover could.

"This is a beautiful moment we're having.Can we please fight?"

He gave her a troubled look."I didn't come here to fight."

"No?"

"Gosh, I was hoping we could get back together," he said, with mock seriousness."What do you think?Do we have a shot?"If the look Buffy gave him could kill, he would have been ashes by now and she could have called it a night.He smirked at her."All right.We'll fight."

His duster flowing like a cape, he rushed her with the speed only a vampire was capable of.Fortunately, it was also the speed only a Slayer could hope to match and she ducked his attack.

He whirled as she came up behind him and she successfully blocked all his strikes, biding her time; actually, biding time for Willow.She just needed to keep him from . . . well, from killing her.But that didn't mean she couldn't make the demon suffer a little.

Okay, maybe a little alot, she thought.She landed a one-two combination with satisfying impacts on his face that staggered him slightly.Retaining his human face, he growled and pressed his attack.As she dodged and blocked, that sliver tickling the back of her neck was still there, subtly screaming at her that something was not right here.And it served to distract her just a little.But it was enough for Angelus to finally get through her defenses, ducking one of her swings, he countered with a punch across her face that took her off guard.He followed through with a second blow that caused her to lose her balance.Before she could recover, he grabbed the back of her coat and flung her to the ground.

Buffy managed to shoulder roll with the landing and looked up as he strode calmly towards her."Come on, Willow," she whispered, then got back to her feet.

As she met his next attack, she tried to reach out with her senses, try to determine if there were any of his goons in hiding, ready to pounce on her at any moment.Angelus must have noticed her distraction for she heard him chuckle, just before slamming another fist into her face.

As her head snapped back she suddenly realized.....

He *was* here alone.

A hard fist was buried into her stomach and she doubled over.

There was no trap here for her.

The top of his leather boot hit her in the face sending her reeling backwards.

But there was a trap.Just not here!

Her back slammed against the wall of the tomb, stopping her, and she composed herself with renewed purpose.She waited until the last instant before she side-stepped his next punch, hooking her arm around his, and swung him into the stone wall, his face smacking the surface with a loud crack.She spun him around, still holding onto his coat, and pulled him in close to raise a knee into his stomach.She repeated the move three more times before switching legs and smashed her other knee into his face.

Angelus fell to the ground, but Buffy was already running as fast as she could away from him.The vampire shook his head to clear it, and saw the Slayer heading for the front wall of the cemetery.

"Where are you going, Buffy?We're not finished here!I guess I'll just go home and destroy the world!" he shouted, trying to goad her.Seeing that she was no longer paying him any attention, he growled."Damn it!"

Buffy did not look back, but he was now chasing her, which just confirmed what she already knew.He did lure her out here to attack the others.He must have found out about the curse, she thought.

Not taking the time to deviate her course to the front gate, she ran straight for the twelve foot high stone wall.If the situation was less dire, Buffy might have been surprised when she cleared the wall, without slowing down, by almost a foot.She just needed to get over the wall as quickly as possible, so she did.She stumbled a little when she landed on the other side but did not fall, so kept moving forward.When she regained her balance she increased her speed again.

By the sounds Angelus made behind her, she knew he had used his arms and legs to help himself over the wall, but he was still in pursuit.She just needed to make it to the library before he did.

The rest of the race was a blur.Her arms pumping at her sides, her heels pounding the pavement, sidewalk, and grass.Only when the high school was in sight did her eyes finally focus.She had lost track of Angelus behind her, but she could not worry about that now.The only thing she was aware of was that she needed to reach the others, no matter what.

She ran straight for the side entrance closest to her, practically ripping the door off its hinges and plunged down the hall.As she rounded the corner to the last stretch of corridor leading to the library, the large window in the student lounge to her left exploded inward.Forcing herself not to look in that direction, she knew it was Angelus still after her.

Nothing mattered, except reaching her friends.

Oblivious of his heavy footfalls behind her, she burst through the double doors and charged into the library.What she saw made her falter slightly.

The library had become a battlefield.Buffy was instantly taken back to the second day of the school year when a group of vampires had made a similar raid.But that time she had been too late to stop them.The difference this time was that they were still here.

Drusilla and Kendra were standing, facing one another, looking into each other's eyes.But the Slayer was doing absolutely nothing to defend herself as she leaned against the check-out counter.Arms at her sides, Buffy saw the heavy eyelid-dazed expression on her face.Drusilla's eyes were wide with an unseen power that had Kendra in a trance.The mad vampire took a step back, reeling a hand back, uncurling her fingers with long sharp fingernails and prepared to strike at the helpless Slayer.

Buffy processed all this in an instant and was still running forward.But as soon as she had entered the library, the other vampires with Drusilla moved in to intercept the blonde Slayer.

Drusilla didn't seem aware of this as the first vampire ran past her back, charging Buffy, her eyes remaining locked on Kendra's.Buffy had pulled Kendra's stake out of her coat and was heading straight for Drusilla.But the vampire got in her path, blocking her.She jumped just before the vamp reached her and hurled the stake as she was tackled at the waist.As the vampire carried her back, Buffy saw Mr. Pointy bury itself into Drusilla's shoulder and the female vampire screamed in pain as the impact threw her off balance.As soon as she lost eye contact with the other Slayer, Kendra slumped against the counter as if the strings that were holding her up had suddenly been cut, and she began to shake off the effects of the trance.

Then Buffy lost sight of her as she started to fall back with the vampire still holding her.Behind her, the double doors opened and she was slammed into Angelus who was unable to stop in time to avoid the collision.The three of them landed on the floor with Buffy sandwiched between them.

The vampire on top of her was trying to get a secure hold on her, to straddle her, but with Angelus squirming underneath them, it was difficult.She heard Angelus growling above her left shoulder and reeled a hard elbow at the sound, cutting the noise off and hopefully knocking his fangs down his throat, Buffy thought.She raised a knee and found the other vamp's groin and a hard fist to its face sent him tumbling off her.

Buffy sat up on Angelus's lap and saw Kendra still recovering.So the other Slayer wasn't aware of the other two vampires closing in on her.Drusilla was on the floor sitting against the book cage preparing to pull the stake from her shoulder.

"Kendra!" Buffy shouted."Snap out of it!"

Angelus was trying to sit up as well.Disappointed, she saw he still had his fangs.Another elbow to the face sent him to the floor again.

Buffy got to her feet, grounding the heel of her boot into Angelus' crotch in the process, and moved as fast as her feet would let her.The closest vampire noticed her just an instant before she slammed into him, and Buffy managed to send them both tumbling into the other vampire as well, knocking them away from Kendra.The three of them hit the floor and Buffy scanned her surroundings for anything wooden she could use as a weapon.Well, there was the wooden table surrounded by all those lovely wooden chairs, she thought, and she also saw Kendra's duffel bag under the table, which would have weapons.But they were several feet beyond her reach.She would have to let these two vamps go if she were to try for them.

Looking underneath the table, she saw Giles lying unmoving on the other side and she felt her heart stop.From here she could not tell whether he was still alive, and, with dread, she suddenly wondered where Willow, Xander, and Cordelia were.But that moment of distraction gave the vampire right under her the opportunity to hit her in the chin with an uppercut and she tumbled off them.

She rolled on the floor and sprang back to her feet and came at the closest vamp with a kick to the gut before it could get to its feet.Then she laid into the other vampire with a hard right hook, sending it spinning off the floor.With those two vamps momentarily dazed, she checked on Kendra, who was finally focusing in on her surroundings.By the double doors, Buffy saw that Angelus was getting back to his feet, as well as the first vampire.

"Kendra, look out!" she shouted.

Buffy screamed as something slammed into her thigh and she dropped to her knees.Looking down, she saw the blood-coated tip of Mr. Pointy sticking out the front of her thigh from where Drusilla had shoved it in the back of her leg.

"Buffy!" Kendra shouted and was moving towards her.

But Angelus grabbed her from behind and Kendra whirled on him with a swinging fist.Angelus ducked the punch and returned with a backhand across her face as the first vampire also closed in on her.

Buffy tried to rise to her feet, but her wounded leg was suddenly useless.

"Poor Buffy," a voice said behind her.She looked over her shoulder and saw Drusilla standing over her.Blood covered her entire shoulder but the mad vampire acted as if she no longer noticed it."Poor little Slayer."

Before she could respond, Drusilla grabbed a handful of her hair and jerked the blonde to her feet.Buffy lashed out with a punch to the vampress's face that caused her to release her, but Drusilla growled and retaliated with a backhand slap that sent Buffy to the floor.The stake was driven deeper into her thigh as the back of her leg hit the floor and she couldn't contain her scream of pain.

The second and third vampires had regrouped by this time and were approaching their mistress.Dru didn't even look at them, never taking her eyes off Buffy, as she nodded her head to the prone Watcher."Let's get what we came for, dears."

Buffy felt a rush of relief that Giles was still alive.Then another rush swept through her as she realized something else.Angelus hadn't known about the curse after all.They were after Giles.And if they needed her Watcher that would mean only one thing, they did not know how to awaken Acathla!

She must not let them take Giles, she thought, and not just to stop them from awakening Acathla.Drusilla was closing in on her again.The vampire was obstructing most of her view behind her, so she wasn't able to see how Kendra was doing.But, by the sound of it, she was in the middle of a big fight with Angelus and the first vampire.

"Come to Mummy," Drusilla said, reaching down for her.

Buffy tried to lash out with a kick to her kneecap with her good leg, but the pain from her other leg slowed her actions down and Dru was able to kick her strike aside.She responded by stomping her stiletto heel onto Buffy's wounded thigh and the Slayer screamed out again.She could not defend herself as Dru reached down and pulled her up by the lapels of her coat.Her feet dangling off the floor, blood flowing down her leg, her face was now just inches away from the vampire's and Buffy was looking directly into her big dark eyes.

"Look into my eyes, dearie," purred Drusilla.

Buffy knew she shouldn't look but she could feel those eyes sucking her in.This is what she had been doing to Kendra.It was very similar to when the Master had her under his trance, but he had no need to look into her eyes, his power just reached out and grabbed her.But after he drank some of her blood, and killed her, she was able to resist him.Giles was still unable to explain it.

"Be in my eyes," droned Drusilla.

The world surrounding those luminous eyes started to unfocus and they began to fill her entire being and Buffy's hands loosened their hold on the female vamp's wrists and fell to her sides.The raven haired vampire smiled at her.

"Yes, my sweet.The pain is going away.Mummy will make everything feel all better."

Buffy was nodding and silently screamed at herself to stop."No," she managed to say through her constricted throat.

"Oh, yes." Drusilla practically beamed at her attempt at resistance.Her face taking on its demon visage, she drew the small Slayer closer and buried her face against her neck.

A scream caught in Buffy's throat as white hot pain stabbed her in the side of her neck.She felt her blood being pulled from her body by Drusilla's hunger and darkness began to dim her vision.But after only a few seconds, which felt like an eternity to Buffy, Dru pulled away, her fangs red with blood.Buffy's blood.

"Now, have a taste of Mummy," she said, in a heavy voice.

She was holding the Slayer with one hand, and curled the other behind the back of Buffy's head, and pulled her in close to her blood covered shoulder.She tried to resist but the vampire was too strong, and at the last instant Buffy turned her head away and her cheek landed against the cold blood.

Drusilla made a disapproving sound and yanked her head back by her hair.

"Naughty, naughty, Buffy.You need to feed if you want to become part of our family."

Buffy could not answer and looked over Drusilla's shoulder.Kendra was now facing only Angelus; she must have dusted the first vampire, but her former boyfriend had the young Slayer down on the floor and was kicking her repeatedly in the midsection.The other two vampires were now dragging the unconscious Giles towards the door, around the fight.

In an adrenaline rush brought on by urgency, Buffy swung her fists up and clapped Drusilla's temples as hard as she could.The female vamp was more surprised by the attack than hurt, but she did release Buffy and the blonde fell to the floor.And immediately collapsed under her crippled leg.

Damn it, she cursed herself.Reaching behind her leg, she wrapped her hand around the blunt end of the stake and, with all her strength, jerked it out of her thigh.As she screamed at the pain, she was fully aware of the amount of blood that was released without the stake there to obstruct the flow.She was losing too much blood, probably already lost too much, but she couldn't stop right now.She needed to save her friends.

That was when she was suddenly grabbed again and Drusilla hauled her back up.

"Where were we, dearie," Drusilla said, bringing Buffy close.

She must not have seen the stake in her hand for Dru did not react until Buffy had slammed it deep into her chest.She just had enough time to looked down at her chest in shock, then raise her eyes to Buffy.Then she exploded into ashes, taking Mr. Pointy with her to oblivion.

With no one holding her, Buffy fell forward, through Dru's still falling ashes and landed hard on the floor.

"DRU!"

Buffy looked up at the sound of Angelus' voice and saw him staring in shock where his sired child was nothing but a scatter of ashes around the blonde Slayer.He instantly forgot about Kendra and the other Slayer was struggling to her knees.Then he focused on Buffy and his vampire eyes flashed an angry yellow as he stalked forward.

Buffy tried to push herself off the floor, but now she was really without strength and couldn't avoid his boot as he kicked her in the face.She flew back and slid several feet across the floor until her back hit the bottom steps to the upper level.

"I'm gonna kill you, bitch!" he snarled.

Buffy was powerless and could still feel herself slipping much faster now.She saw Kendra finally on her feet and she was running towards them.

The double doors suddenly swung open and a couple of voices shouted, "FREEZE!"

The vampires who had been holding Giles had been unsure of what to do when Drusilla was killed, so they were taken off guard when the first two police officers, a man and a woman, burst into the library with guns drawn. 

They dropped the Watcher and growled at the cops, which, added with their vampiric faces, was more than enough to convince the officers to start shooting.

Kendra dove to the floor as the shooting started, sliding underneath the table.From where she was, Buffy was out of the line of fire.Angelus turned away from her to see what was happening.Then the police officers started to scream as the vampires reached them.As they died, they continued to shoot until their guns were empty.

Angelus was turning his attention back to Buffy when Kendra emerged from under the table with a sword, she had pulled out of her duffel bag, and swung it at his neck.He barely ducked away just in time to keep his head on his shoulders, but Kendra was already following through, spinning 360 degrees, and laid open Angelus' side with another swipe.

Clutching his side, trying to keep his undead guts from spilling from the wound, he climbed up on top of the check out counter and jumped off avoiding Kendra's next strike at his legs.He hurried to the other two vampires, who had just finished killing the police officers and leaned against the closest.

"Let's get out of here, boys," he ordered.

"What about him?" one of the vamps asked, indicating Giles.

"Leave him, for now.We'll get him later."

The vamps helped their leader as they pushed their way out the library doors.There was another commotion out in the hall and more shots echoed, obviously from more cops entering the school.

Kendra hurried to Buffy's side and put the sword down.

"Buffy," she said, taking in the smaller Slayer's battered appearance.The blonde was looking up at her with painfilled green eyes that were only halfway opened.

Kendra pulled off her jacket and pushed it under Buffy's wounded leg, then wrapped the sleeves around the top of her thigh and tied them as tight as she could.

"Oww," Buffy said, in a weak voice.

The shooting out in the hall stopped.

"Where's Angel?" she asked.

"He got away," Kendra answered looking at the bite on Buffy's neck.

"And Giles?"

"He's ah'right, I tink.Just unconscious."She put a hand on Buffy's blood smeared cheek."D'ye feed off Drusilla?"

"No."

"Good."

Kendra pulled out a clean rag from the pocket of her cargo pants and pressed it against Buffy's neck.Her expression didn't change as she tended to her fellow Slayer.

"Ye've lost a lot of blood," she observed.

"Yeah," Buffy said."I'm dying.Been there, done that.No big."

Kendra looked into her eyes."Ye're not goin' to die!"

"Truthfully, I don't want to, but I don't really have a choice."Buffy's expression turned to one of alarm."Oh, God.Where're Xander and Willow and Cordy?"

"Xander is up dere," she nodded to the upper level."I tink he's unconscious as well.I don't see de others.Dey must've run away."

"Check on him," Buffy told her.

"I c'not leave you.Ye're still losing blood."

"I'm sure the ambulances are on the way because of all the shooting.Please, just see if he's all right."

Kendra's expression still didn't change as she looked into Buffy's eyes."Okay," she said, and climbed the short stairs.When she was on the upper level she saw a toppled book shelf and immediately lifted it to one side.

"What is it?"From her vantage point, Buffy couldn't see what was there.

"'Tis ye're friend, Willow.She's been knocked out.Could be a concussion."

"Oh, God," Buffy whispered with worry.

"Buffy?" she heard a groggy voice say.

She saw Xander, pushing himself to a sitting position and he winced in pain and cradled his right arm against his body.

"Xander," she breathed in relief."Thank God.Are you all right?"

"My arm's broken.Willow!"He started to crawl towards them.

"She's alive," Kendra told him."We shouldn't move her until help arrives."

"What happened?" he asked."Buffy.Buffy?Where are you?"

"Down here," she called in a faint voice.

Xander finally got to his feet and saw Buffy at the bottom of the stairs."No," he whispered and hurried down to her side.He gently eased his good arm under her and cradled her against his body."You're gonna be okay, Buff, do you hear?"

"I'm sorry," she said."I wish I could do that for you, Xand, but my body has other plans."

Sirens came into earshot and steadily grew louder.

"See," Xander said, as tears started sliding down his cheeks."They're coming.You're gonna be fine.Did Angel do this?"

"It was Drusilla."

"She is so dead meat," he said, angrily.

"Actually, she's right there."Buffy nodded, barely able to move her head now.Xander saw the scattered ashes.

"What about Angel?"

"He got away," Kendra said from the top of the stairs.She couldn't go down without having to step over them so she stayed right there.

"But Kendra nearly cut him in half," she said, with a smile.

"He must have found out about the curse," Xander said.

"No."It was taking Buffy all her strength just to continue talking."He didn't know about the curse.He doesn't know how to awaken Acathla.They were after Giles.They didn't get him."

"That's good news.Now try not to talk," Xander urged her."Save your strength."

"Kendra," Buffy called."You have to find Angel.He's no match for you right now.Stop him before he can try again."

Kendra nodded.

"But we don't know where they're holed up," said Xander.

"Angel will show us de way," Kendra said."His blood will."She indicated the blood on the counter.

"Better than a trail of bread crumbs," Buffy said.Then she hissed in pain and Xander held her closer.

"Just a little longer, Buffy," he pleaded.

She just looked up into his eyes."I love all of you."Her voice and breathing were slowing down."Tell the others, Xander.Tell Giles to . . . talk to my mom."

"I will.Buffy, please."

She tried to smile at him but she was too weak and her eyes closed, releasing a single tear drop.Then another tear drop landed on her cheek, this one from Xander.He hugged her against his chest.

"I love you," he whispered.

He started to make out several voices out in the hall and they were getting closer to the library.He looked up and saw Kendra still standing at the top of the stairs.She was looking down at Buffy, but there was no expression on her face he could read.She didn't even look sad.She looked . . .

Like Kendra.

"Well, what are you waiting for!" he snapped."Go find Angel!"

The Slayer just glanced at him, then made her way down the steps around them.She retrieved her sword and looked up when the voices were right outside the double doors.

"Go out through the back," Xander told her."And don't let the cops see you."

She nodded and bounded back up the stairs and disappeared through the doors leading into the Stacks.

Xander turned his attention back to Buffy and finally let himself break down and his body shuddered as the sobs assaulted him as he continued to hold his friend close.

And he held onto her until the paramedics pulled him away from her.

**End of Part One**

FIRST THREAD: Part Two 

"Where is Drusilla!?" demanded Spike.

The two vampires helped Angelus to the couch and he dropped weakly onto it, immediately getting blood on the cushions.He managed to get his coat off without losing any of his insides.

"Where is she!!?" Spike shouted, as he rolled his wheelchair a few feet closer to the couch.

"She's dead," Angelus hissed.

One of the vampires returned to the main room of the large mansion and handed him a roll of bandages and tape and Angelus quickly started to wrap his wound.

Spike just sat there for a shocked moment."What?Dru's dead?"

"That bitch killed her."Anger filled Angelus' voice.He used his teeth to rip a strip of tape and growled in pain as he tightened the layer of bandage over his wound.

"You let Buffy kill Dru?" Spike accused."She wasn't even supposed to be there!You said you were gonna lure her away!"

"Don't worry about Buffy," Angelus finally shot him a look."If what Dru did to her doesn't kill her, I will."

"So," Spike was practically trembling with rage.He glanced at the large stone statue which sat in the center of the room.The slumbering demon Acathla, as far as he was concerned, the cause of this madness.Then he returned his gaze to Drusilla's sire, the cause of *all* of Spike's troubles."Not only did your plan to dupe your ex-pet away from her friends fail, nor did you succeed in taking her Watcher, but you let her kill Drusilla!And you left her alive!!!"

"I told you," Angelus retorted.He was still taping up his shoddy wound dressing.His bloody hands were trembling with the effort in his weakened condition."Dru practically killed her.She's no threat to us right now.But the other Slayer was there.That foreign bitch."

"Kendra?"

"She's still running around.But she's no threat.She's not half the Slayer Buffy is."

"Well, you're not even half a vampire right now, Angel," Spike told him.The blonde vampire closed his eyes, trying to calm himself down.But all he saw was the face of his beloved Drusilla and how that was to be the only way he would be able to see her from now on.She was gone.

He opened his eyes."All right, we're gonna vacate this place, now."

"We're not done here," Angelus growled.

Spike seethed."Oh, I think we are quite done here."He looked over his shoulder to a tall vampire with lanky bangs standing behind him."Lucius, go start up the car.If we leave now we can be miles away from this hellhole before the sun comes up."

"The car isn't here," Angelus told him.

Spike looked at him."Where.Is.The.Car?"

"It's still at the cemetery.And I said we're not leaving."

"Dru is dead.Buffy may or may not be.You don't have the foggiest how to wake up Sleeping Beauty, there,"He nodded his head toward Acathla."And you left a trail back to the mansion that any half-slayer can follow.

"Don't forget who runs this show, Spike," Angelus said, in a warning tone."We're not finished here.If Buffy's still alive, we kill her.If she's dead, we kill all her friends.Then we get the information out of the Watcher if we have to cut him into little bitty pieces in the process.Then we send the rest of the world to hell."

Spike met Angelus' eyes and glared at him with barely contained fury.Neither one of them broke eye contact for a long moment, refusing to back down.Finally, Spike lowered his eyes.Angelus, feeling he won the confrontation, relaxed and inspected the bandages around his body.

In a steady voice that masked the anger he was feeling, Spike said, "Lucius, take the boys outside with you and walk the perimeter.I suspect we'll be having a Slayer come a calling before too long."He met Angelus' eyes again and his sire did nothing to countermand his orders as the tall vamp left with the others.

"And find something out there for me to eat," Angelus told him as they left."I don't care if it's alive or not, just don't taste it."

The vamps left the mansion leaving Angelus alone with Spike.Neither one of them spoke for a long time.Spike leaned back in his chair and rested his hands on the wheels.He began to wheel himself slowly backwards.

"You really have lost it, haven't you, Angel?"

Angelus scoffed at the crippled vampire."Don't worry Spike, I won't let anything happen to you," he said with mock sincerity."You're still more amusing than you are a pain in the ass, but I know you want revenge for Dru's death as much as I do."

"I can't imagine that being true, mate."Spike was now close to the wall and he reached for a wooden chair against it.He swung it in one hand and shattered the chair against the stone wall.

"Throwing a hissy fit really doesn't become you, Spike.Though being in that chair all this time may have brought you closer to your more feminine side."

"Well, then allow me to up the testosterone."Making sure Angelus was watching him, Spike planted his boots on the floor and, pushing off the armrests, slowly stood up out of the wheelchair.He couldn't help but smile at the expression that came over his sire's face and he kicked his wheelchair back hard.

"Manly enough for you, Angel?" he asked.Straightening his own leather duster, which showed signs of wrinkles from him sitting in the chair all these months, he strolled over to the pile of wood he created from the broken chair and selected a long nasty looking splinter.

"Spike," Angelus said in a threatening tone, doing his best to keep the worry out of it."What are you doing?"

The blonde vampire started walking towards the couch."I'm getting my revenge.I just wish I had more time to do it proper."

*****

Lucius walked down the stone stairs to the atrium.He was dragging a struggling, dirty looking, old man he had found on the streets.Before he reached the side entrance to the mansion Spike stepped out.The tall vampire was taken aback at seeing the blonde walking on his own two feet.

Spike didn't break stride as he approached Lucius."C'mon.Let's gather the boys and go get the car.We're heading out."

Finally recovered, Lucius said, "What about Angel?"

"He lost his appetite."Spike didn't even look back as he started up the stairs."Among other things."

"What do you want me to do with this guy?" he asked.

Spike still didn't look back and continued on."Eat him or toss him.Makes no difference to me."

Lucius looked at the frightened human for a few seconds then shoved him away in disgust.The old man slumped against the stone wall as the vampire wiped his hands off and followed Spike.

**End of part two**

FIRST THREAD: Part Three 

_May 21, 1998_

_Last night, my Slayer, Buffy Summers, was killed.She died while sav--_

**RIP--CRUMPLE**

_May 21, 1998_

_ _

_Last night, the vampires attacked us in an attempt to abduct me.Apparently Angel did not know the correct ritual to awaken the demon Acathla.Had he succeeded in acquiring this information he would have used the demon to deliver the world to the demon dimension.Fortunately, with the Slayers working together, they were able to stop his efforts._

_ _

_Regrettably, one of the Slayers did not survive the attack.My Slayer, Buffy--_

**RIP--CRUMPLE**

_May 21, 1998_

_ _

_The vampires tried to send the world to hell.The Slayers stopped them--_

**RIP--CRUMPLE--SLAM**

*****

_May 23, 1998_

_ _

_Three days ago, my Slayer, Buffy Summers was killed.She died saving the world.Her death is a great loss to us all.Although the world still has Kendra, another Slayer will soon be called, possibly already contacted, I know there will never be a Slayer as dedicated and--_

**RIP--CRUMPLE**

_May 23, 1998_

_ _

_Buffy is gone.I failed her._

_ _

_--the diary of Rupert Giles_

****

_May 25, 1998_

_ _

_Buffy was buried today.It was a remarkably bright sunny day, considering the dark clouds had been threatening rain for the past week.It was the first time I saw Xander, Willow, and Cordelia for a length of time.They left as soon as it was over so I wasn't given the opportunity to speak with them.I haven't spoken to them since . . . that night and they hadn't been in the library ever since._

_ _

_The library has become a lonely, ominous place.Without the children's regular presence, I am finding the time I must spend there dreadful.I find myself looking forward to the summer break._

*****

_May 26, 1998_

_ _

_Buffy's mother came to me demanding answers.The day after Buffy's death I spoke to her, but at the time I was unable to bring myself to explain her daughter's true role as the Slayer.I ultimately told her that Buffy saved us from what the police had determined was a raid by a gang under the influence of drugs.Joyce was inclined to believe the story.But apparently, she discovered some of Buffy's weapons and slaying equipment.I proceeded to tell her the truth and how her daughter really died.With a little assistance from Kendra, she believed what was told to her._

_ _

_--added note: 6-15-98:--This was to be the last time I would see Joyce Summers._

*****

_May 27, 1998_

_ _

_Kendra returned home today.After finding the deserted mansion that had been the vampires' hideout, she had kept watch over the place on the chance they might return.She had discovered scattered ashes where the trail of Angel's blood ended.Spike's wheelchair was also there, abandoned.I could only surmise what may have happened._

_ _

_But after a week with no hint of Spike's presence and with Acathla securely binded, the Slayer was recalled by her Watcher._

_ _

_I resigned my position as Watcher to the Council.I'll be returning to England before too long._

_ _

_--last entry.Rupert Giles_

*****

*****

_June 10, 1998_

_ _

_Oddly enough I'm still in Sunnydale.I had everything I would need to return home to England, leaving most of my things behind.I even had the flight reservations set.But on the day it was time to leave, I could not bring myself to go to the airport.I sat in my apartment, which I can no longer deny is my home, watching the clock.Watched as the hour of my flight came and went.I didn't try to reason with myself why I could not leave for I knew --had known all along-- I could never leave._

_ _

_Here is where she was.She gave her life here.No less should be asked of myself._

*****

_June 19, 1998_

_ _

_I've taken up patrolling.Chances are this will be a very short career choice on my part, but I just cannot sit by any longer.The Hellmouth is still a large draw for the demons and there is no one to stop them.I don't even know why I'm keeping with this diary.Buffy would have said--_

*****

_June 25, 1998_

_ _

_I received quite a shock last night.I was almost killed by a vampire, but that wasn't the shock.I was saved.Xander, Willow, and Oz saw that I was in danger and rescued me.They were on patrol!They wanted to know what I was doing out there just as much as I wanted to know why they were out there.Seems like none of us could ignore the creatures of the night without trying to do something about it._

_ _

_We were about to go our separate ways, calling it a night, when, on impulse, I asked them if they would like to come over to my place for something to eat perhaps.They surprised me by saying yes.They ended up staying almost the entire night.It was the first time we were all together since "that" night.We never said anything about that night.I think we all understood that we weren't ready to talk about it just then.We just talked about anything.How they had started going out on patrol together just a couple of weeks ago.That Cordelia had gone away for the summer._

_ _

_Xander had said, "In Sunnydale what else is there to do besides save the world?"Even though the humor came much harder for him, it was reassuring that he was still capable of it.He may have feelings for Cordelia now, but Buffy, I believe, was his first serious crush.And he was the only one of us there for her . . . at the end._

_ _

_It turns out they've actually slain three vampires so far, and ran into a squat four-eyed creature two nights ago, that got away.I told them I would research it for them to determine its origins.They didn't decline the offer as I had feared._

*****

_June 28, 1998_

_ _

_We succeeded in taking down the four-eyed demon.A Monttelous, actually.While small in size it can be a particularly vicious creature.Upon discovering what kind of demon it was, I was very grateful that none of the children had been harmed during the first encounter.The demon's talons secrete a rather unpleasant venom when unsheathed.If the victim goes untreated for over an hour, the person would literally go mad and go into a destructive rampage.A death I would not wish on a hated enemy._

*****

_July 5, 1998_

_ _

_We all went to visit Buffy today.It was a beautiful day.I can't say if this being the day after this country's Independence Day has any significance for us all being there together.There was much weeping for all --I believe this was the first time I've actually seen tears in Oz's eyes and I'm sure it wasn't solely because of the grief Willow was feeling.Buffy may not have been as close to the young man as to the others but during that short time she did have quite an impact on him.As she had on all of us._

_ _

_It was also a time of letting go.Not of their memories of Buffy, those would never die, but of their guilt.I suspected that the others blamed themselves, however unwarrantedly, for Buffy's death.At that moment they accepted the fact that there was nothing they could have done to save her._

_ _

_Maybe one day I'll be able to forgive myself._

*****

_August 17, 1998_

_ _

_The beginning of the school year is just a few weeks away now.Soon we'll once again be able to have our meetings in the library.Of course, it will not be like old times.It can never be.I don't really know how the others will respond to that.Returning to the library.Over the summer I have gone to the library to retrieve volumes we would need to research a particular demon or monster, but none of the others ever accompanied me, nor did I ever pose the offer._

*****

*****

_August 20, 1998_

_ _

_ _

_I was contacted by the Watcher's Council today.Sam Zabuto, Kendra's Watcher, is dead.He was killed about a week ago.I wasn't given any of the details but Kendra is currently without a Watcher and there is no one presently available to assign to her.The last Watcher had barely completed her training when Buffy--_

**RIP--CRUMPLE**

*****

_August 20, 1998_

_ _

_ _

_I was contacted by the Watcher's Council today.Sam Zabuto, Kendra's Watcher, is dead.He was killed about a week ago.I wasn't given any of the details but Kendra is currently without a Watcher and there is no one presently available to assign to her.The last Watcher had barely completed her training when the next Slayer was activated.Turns out this new girl had somehow slipped past the Council's detection.All other active Watchers are currently assigned to Slayer candidates all over the world, so the new Watcher was rushed off to make contact with this new Slayer.Somewhere in Boston, I believe._

_ _

_Since it's no longer possible to make this a short entry . . . basically, the Council has reinstated my Watcher status.They want me to be Kendra's Watcher.They said I was the only one with the training and the experience I already have dealing with a Slayer makes me more than qualified for the job.The next Watcher, even with accelerated training, will not be ready for field duty for another year.Although Kendra is a remarkable young woman, I told the Council I no longer have any interest in being a Watcher.They in turned informed me that Kendra's flight left several hours ago and when to expect her._

_ _

_Damned them._

*****

*****

_August 25, 1998_

_ _

_ _

_Kendra is adapting to her new surroundings rather quickly.True it is not the first time she has been in Sunnydale, this time she will not be returning home.And since Kendra has been prepared for her role as a Slayer nearly her entire life, it shouldn't be surprising to me how easily she's adjusting.She even went out on patrol her first night here.I hadn't the chance to tell the others about Kendra, what with the short notice I received myself.I can't describe the surprise on their faces when they ran into her during their patrol._

_ _

_I know they were uncomfortable with her presence at first, Kendra being such a strong reminder of what happened the night we lost Buffy, but that quickly passed.While having "civilians" accompany the Slayer, even ally themselves in battle with her, went against everything she was taught, Kendra had learned from Buffy that not everything was as clear cut as we Watchers like to make it seem._

_ _

_--the 2nd diary of Rupert Giles.First entry._

**End of part Three.**


	2. Parts 04 - 07

  
  
FIRST THREAD: Part Four  
  
  
  
  
October, 1998  
  
  
  
"Willow, what are you doing here?"  
  
The redhead looked up from the computer monitor, where she was behind the check out counter. She gave Giles a fleeting glance as he walked into the library, then returned her attention to the screen.  
  
"Oh, just trying to find any information on the Net about that demon Kendra ran into last night," she finally said.  
  
Giles stopped in front of the counter resting his briefcase on it. "I appreciate that, but I can assure you I have a volume that has all the information we'll need."  
  
"Oh." Willow continued to surf. "Well, I-- You know, you can never have too much information about all the nasties crawling around town."  
  
Giles regarded her with concern for a moment. "Uh, no. Of course not. But . . . uh, weren't the four of you going to go off campus for lunch today?"  
  
Willow still kept her focus on the screen. "Yeah. Oz took Xander and Cordelia to the burger place. I told them I needed to do some research here."  
  
Giles nodded and she fell silent.  
  
"Willow," he said. "Are you all right?"  
  
She looked at him. "Yeah. Why? Don't I look all right?"  
  
The seventeen year old did look okay. Outwardly, she hadn't seemed to change a bit since the first time he met her, nearly two years ago. She still wore the usual long sleeve fuzzy sweaters, modest skirts, and tennis shoes, and she kept her red hair straight and long. But the young woman underneath had grown considerably since that time.  
  
"Oh, no. It's just . . . You seem a little--"  
  
"I'm fine." She smiled, but Giles saw that it didn't quite make it to her eyes. "Really. I just didn't feel hungry.  
  
"Yes. Well, if there's ever a time you need to talk . . . about anything--"  
  
Still smiling, she said, "I know who to call."  
  
"Right." He grabbed his briefcase again and rounded the counter to the doorway leading to his office. He paused just before stepping through when his eyes fell upon the steps leading to the upper level of the stacks. The stains were long gone but they were still so painfully visible.  
  
Willow looked up and noticed what he was looking at.  
  
*****  
  
When he came to, his head was pounding loudly between his ears and he found himself lying on the floor of the library. Groaning, he tried to sit up.  
  
"Sir, don't move," he heard a woman's voice say.  
  
He sat up anyway and his heart nearly stopped at what he saw. He was close to the double doors and just a few feet in front of him were two police officers lying on the floor in pools of blood. The young paramedic was checking their pulses and Giles quickly recognized the savage fang wounds on their necks. He knew she would not find a pulse.  
  
When she confirmed they were dead, she turned her attention to Giles, kneeling down beside him. "Just don't move. More help is on the way. I need to help the others."  
  
"The others?" he asked, a bit dazedly.  
  
The paramedic stood and hurried to the other side of the library. Giles looked over his shoulder and his breath caught in his throat. The library looked halfway destroyed. But all the blood on the floor and the counter is what drew his attention. He could just barely see Xander sitting on his knees on the floor. He was cradling his right arm and his gaze was turned down and he seemed to be staring blankly at something.  
  
Giles watched the female paramedic give Xander a quick glance then step around something, out of sight, and joined the second paramedic up on the upper level. They were kneeling around another still form and, as Giles got a little unsteadily to his feet, he realized it was Willow.  
  
"Dear God," he whispered, as he started to move toward them.  
  
He rounded the counter and stopped dead in his tracks when he saw what Xander was staring at.  
  
"Buffy," he croaked. Then rushed forward.  
  
Xander looked up and his eyes seemed to regain focus when he saw Giles. He stood up quickly.  
  
"Giles . . ."  
  
"What are you doing!?" Giles shouted. "Help her!"  
  
Xander wasn't sure whom he was yelling at but he stepped in front of him and put a hand on his shoulder.  
  
"Giles!"  
  
"Out of the way!"  
  
"Giles!" Xander shouted. The Watcher finally looked at him. Saw the younger man's expression. He looked down at Buffy again.  
  
"No."  
  
Giles moved forward again and Xander didn't stop him. Tears were flowing down his cheeks again as he followed the older man. Giles knelt down beside his Slayer and cradled her in his lap. He took off his glasses and dropped them on the floor. He pulled out a handkerchief from his tweed jacket and used it to wipe the blood off Buffy's cheek.  
  
*****  
  
Giles had only stopped for a moment but the entire scene played through his mind in less than a second. He looked away from the spot where Buffy died and stepped into his office.  
  
Willow returned her eyes to the computer screen again and tried to remember what she had been doing. She knew what he had been thinking about. After she had awakened from her coma late that same night, over four months ago, Xander had filled her in with what had happened in the library. Oz was also there at the hospital, but didn't know the situation either. The news of Buffy's death had hit her hard. Even though she was probably closer to Xander, what with growing up with him, Buffy was --had been-- her best girlfriend. If Willow had a sister she would bet the world that it would have felt like the bond she had shared with her. She could talk to Buffy about things she couldn't with Xander. For example, the long-time crush she had on Xander. Before she met Oz, that is.  
  
After a couple of minutes, she finally focused her attention and clicked onto another site. That was when the double doors swung open.  
  
She looked up as Xander, Cordelia, and Oz walked inside. They were carrying sodas and take-out burger bags.  
  
"I thought you guys were gonna eat at the Happy Burger?" she asked, as they approached.  
  
"We were," Xander said. "But we found out something interesting that we should tell you guys about."  
  
"What?" Willow asked, curious.  
  
"Somebody was eatened there last night," Cordelia supplied.  
  
"It's a fast-food place, Cordelia. People are usually eating there."  
  
"Not *eating*. *Eatened*," Xander corrected. "It seems a vampire pulled up to the drive-thru and yanked an employee out the window."  
  
Giles, who was overhearing the conversation stepped out of his office to stand behind Willow.  
  
"How do you know it was a vampire?" Willow asked.  
  
"The only other person that was there was the burger flipper. We were wondering what had happened to the drive-thru window and he told us someone pulled the guy right out and into a limo, he thought it was. He really didn't get a good look at the car because it peeled out of there."  
  
"How horrible."  
  
"Gives new meaning to 'order to go,' " he said, without humor.  
  
"Did he get a look at the vampire?" Giles asked.  
  
"He told the police he didn't see the guy," Oz said. "The vamp must've had it's happy face on, because I don't think he wanted to tell them what he actually saw."  
  
"But he was a little more open with us," Xander added.  
  
"You subtly hinted that you knew what it was he saw?" Willow said.  
  
"Yeah. We were totally smooth about it."  
  
"Cordelia just asked him if he saw a vampire," Oz shrugged.  
  
"Hey," Cordelia responded to the look Willow and Giles gave her. "We only had forty-five minutes for lunch. We didn't have time to play traumatized witness with him. Besides, he works at Happy Burger. He has bigger problems than vampires."  
  
Willow and Giles just stared at Cordelia for a moment longer. Then Giles looked to Xander. "So what did he say?"  
  
"He said it looked like a black man. Well, you know, except for the not being human part," Cordelia answered.  
  
"Hm. Vampires are common enough in Sunnydale," Willow said.  
  
"But not limos," Xander finished.  
  
"Or black men," Cordelia added. Silence. "What?"  
  
Cordelia rolled her eyes and scoffed at them, grabbing her bag off the counter and walked to the study table.  
  
"Uh, either way," Giles said, "It shouldn't be too difficult to find this vampire, and, more than likely, the pack he's running with. I'll brief Kendra on this before her patrol tonight."  
  
"Where is the Slayer, anyway?" Xander asked.  
  
"Oh, she had a meeting with Principle Snyder," Willow said. "I think it was something about letting her take some college courses." There was a tinge of jealously in her tone that she was able to hide from everyone except Xander.  
  
"It is weird how Scroogie Snyder has actually taken a shine to her considering how he was with--" he faltered. "Uh, how he is with the rest of the students in school."  
  
Willow shrugged. "Well, I think that has something to do with Kendra's nearly perfect grade point average."  
  
Xander waved a hand, nonchalantly. "Just because she's making straight A's--"  
  
"Straight A-plusses," Willow put in.  
  
"--doesn't mean that she's the smartest kid in school."  
  
"Yeah," Oz added, giving her a knowing look. "A lot of students are up for the honor roll. And they all work really hard for their grades."  
  
Willow gave him a little smile.  
  
"And Kendra is very disciplined when it comes to her studies," Giles offered.  
  
This seemed to succeed in making Willow feel a little better.  
  
"Yeah, but when you consider she spends almost every night out there hunting demons and vampires, not to mention she's trying to read Giles' entire book collection of 'eww', it's amazing how she's able to keep those grades with what little time left she has for school work," Cordelia pitched in. She didn't notice Willow's crestfallen expression as she dug her food out of her bag. "And she can, what, speak and read a dozen languages?"  
  
"Four," Giles said.  
  
"Now, if only she would do something about her wardrobe. I swear, has she never even heard about those nifty little inventions called blouses and skirts? And what is up with those army boots?"  
  
*****  
  
Principal Snyder opened the door to his office and Kendra stepped out first. Snyder was smiling pleasantly at her, which to any of the students in Sunnydale would have been disturbing.  
  
"Thank you again, for coming down, Ms. Zabuto," he said.  
  
"'Tis no problem, Mr. Snyder," she said, in a light but neutral tone. "Is it not me duty-- uh, I mean, 'tis an honor to do me best for the school."  
  
"That's what I like to see in a student. Discipline, dedication, and a respect for order. While I don't approve of your choice of friends, I'm sure a girl as sensible as you would avoid any trouble they might try to drag you into." More to himself, he said, "I don't know why your uncle allows you to associate with them. Fortunately the real troublemaker was--" He stopped and looked at her again. "In just one month you have become a model for the other students to look up to."  
  
"Tank you, Mr. Snyder."  
  
"Well, you should get back to class and continue to make your school proud."  
  
"I will," Kendra gave him a small smile. When the short principal closed his door, her smile faded and her expression became neutral once more.  
  
She turned and headed towards her locker. When she rounded the corner she almost ran into Harmony, Kate, and Aura as the three were chattering to each other not paying attention to where they were going. Kendra's reflexes allowed her to easily side-step the trio.  
  
"Hey!" mewled Harmony. "Watch where you're going, you fashion reject!"  
  
Kendra didn't respond to that and continued down the hall.  
  
"Yeah!" Harmony called after her. "You better know your place, loser!"  
  
This stopped Kendra in her tracks. This certainly wasn't the first time she had run into Cordelia's "friends" and she never gave them much thought, but this time Harmony's words struck something within her. She turned and faced the snobbish, rich girls. They were still looking at her.  
  
"What?" Harmony demanded. "What are you looking at?"  
  
Kendra realized that she suddenly wanted to smash her fist into the blonde girl's condescending expression. But she quickly suppressed that urge. A Slayer was never to harm another human being, no matter how annoying they were. And especially never to let emotions dictate her actions.  
  
Harmony grew worried as the Slayer continued to stare at her without saying a word. "Come on, let's go," she said, to Kate and Aura and turned trying to make her quick walk seem natural. As they disappeared around the corner, Kendra heard her say, "I swear, she's creepier than that Buffy."  
  
Since returning to Sunnydale to stay, she did everything she could to blend in so as not to hamper her duties as the Slayer nor draw attention to the fact that she was the Slayer. Kendra had never attended a school of any kind and she felt that it would complicate her duties. But Mr. Giles assured her that the best way to fit in was to start attending public school, so as to become more familiar with the culture and her surroundings. And it would easily allow them all to gather in the library.  
  
Even after almost two months, Kendra was still not used to letting Buffy's friends sometimes accompany her on patrol. She didn't understand why Mr. Giles would involve innocents in the battle. But her new Watcher was very different than her first Watcher. From the moment she arrived, the differences were made even clearer. She didn't understand the surprise on his face when she had asked him which room in his apartment she would be staying in. Also the surprise on the others' faces when they discovered that she would be living with Mr. Giles.  
  
She had spent practically her entire life with Mr. Zabuto; she could hardly remember her real parents, and he was adamant about letting nothing interfere with the cause. When she was very little there was an amah who tended to her, when she wasn't training with him, and she taught Kendra how to speak Chinese. She wasn't even sure how old she really was. Mr. Zabuto often said such things as time, age, and names were not relevant to the cause. Which is why Kendra was the only name she had. She had taken Zabuto as her last name because Mr. Giles said it was necessary to have one, and also as a way to honor her late Watcher.  
  
With the Council's help, Giles had provided convincing documentation as evidence to support Kendra being his niece and that she had been born here in America but was raised out of the country. That alone solved many problems.  
  
Kendra finally turned and continued to her locker.  
  
*****  
  
Xander nodded. "Kendra does seem to go into 'Terminator' mode whenever she's . . ." He frowned. "I guess that would be all the time."  
  
"She makes Oz seem happy-go-lucky," Cordelia said.  
  
"That's a scary thought," Oz deadpanned.  
  
"That's not really true," Willow said, defensively. "We've all seen her smile. And laugh every once in a . . . well, once."  
  
Cordelia got up from her chair and approached the counter. "Oh, please. Anyone can see that the expressions she gives have been so rehearsed they're almost second nature to her."  
  
"How can you tell?"  
  
"Really! If I had a dollar for every time I've given a false smile or fake laugh at a dumb joke just to let a guy think I'm still interested in anything he has to say, and not his car, his looks, or his wallet, I'd be rich."  
  
"You are rich," Xander said.  
  
She continued, "The point is, I'm an expert at spotting phony expressions and I'm telling you Kendra has a mask for every occasion."  
  
Giles stepped out further from the door to his office. "While I hate to admit it, Cordelia is absolutely right."  
  
She glanced at the Watcher. "Thank you." She turned to the others with a smug grin, then her eyebrows narrowed and she turned to him again. "Hey! What do you mean you 'hate to admit it?' Is it because it's true or because I'm the one who noticed?"  
  
Giles hesitated. "Um . . . Yes." He quickly continued. "You have to understand, Kendra has been taught from a very young age that her duty as the Slayer was her destiny and highest priority and that nothing must ever interfere with that."  
  
"But isn't that an extreme method of training?" Willow asked. "I mean, you never trained Buffy that way."  
  
"Things have changed considerably since long ago times. Zabuto's methods are very old and hardly practiced anymore. Kendra's people are one of the few cultures that still follow the tradition of sending a potential Slayer away from her family to be raised and trained by her Watcher."  
  
"Turn her into the perfect slaying machine," observed Oz.  
  
"That's so sad," Willow added. "She's living a life that doesn't really belong to her. At least Buffy still had us and a life whenever she wasn't killing the nasty nightcrawlers. But Kendra . . ." She looked at Giles and there was bitterness in her voice. "How can you let her go on like that?"  
  
Giles was taken aback by this and Willow lowered her head slightly.  
  
"I'm sorry. It's just . . ."  
  
"I know," Giles told her. "Kendra has lived like this for so long, I'm not sure how to show her that there is more to life."  
  
"So now we have to get the Slayer a life?" Cordelia said, indignantly.  
  
Giles removed his glasses and polished them with a handkerchief. "I think the only one whoever got through her . . . 'armour' was Buffy."   
  
"And she didn't even cry when Buffy--" Xander took a breath. "She just stood there."  
  
"Maybe she doesn't know how to cry," Willow said.  
  
They were all silent for a moment.  
  
"We can try to get her to go with us to the Bronze," Oz suggested.  
  
"That's a great idea," Willow agreed. "If only--"  
  
"We can get her there," Xander finished.  
  
"Yeah. She's never gone with us to the Bronze before."  
  
Giles put his glasses back on. There was a determined tint in his eyes. "No. You four go to the Bronze, I'll make sure--"  
  
"Excuse me, Senor Pushy," Cordelia spoke up. "But maybe some of us already do have lives?"  
  
"Cordy!" Xander and Willow said, at the same time.  
  
Oz just tilted his head slightly. "What they said."  
Cordelia let her head fall back and sighed loudly. "Okay, fine."  
  
"Right." Giles said, "I'll make sure Kendra is there at the Bronze tonight."  
  
"How? Are you going to lie to her?" asked Xander.  
  
"No. I'm going to tell her that I suspect there might be vampire activity at the Bronze and that she should keep an eye on things there, tonight." He saw the looks he was getting from the teens. "I mean, uh, this being Sunnydale it's quite probable that a vampire or two may show up at the Bronze hunting for someone." They kept giving him the look. He sighed, letting his shoulders sag slightly. "I'm going to lie to her."  
  
"Now that wasn't so bad, was it?" Xander asked.  
  
Giles gave him a critical eye.  
  
"Okay, so that gets her there," Cordelia said, "What do we do with her, then?"  
  
"What young people your age usually do," Giles shrugged.  
  
"Yeah," Willow grinned. "We can get her to relax a little. Get her to try drinking something stronger than water."  
  
"You want to get her drunk?" Cordelia gave her a surprised look. "I always knew that `so innocent' act was hiding a darker side."  
  
"No. I just-- We've never seen Kendra drink anything like soda. You know, nothing fun."  
  
"She does join me for tea, every once in a while," Giles informed them. Willow and the others just gave him another look. "Right," he said, putting his hands in his pockets.  
  
"Ooh! Maybe you can get her to dance with you, Xander?"  
  
"Hey! Why does it have to be my boyfriend? Why can't Oz do it? He's closer to Kendra's level below the personality radar."  
  
"Hey!" Willow exclaimed.  
  
"I second that," Oz said, calmly.  
  
"Well, maybe they can both ask her to dance?" Willow offered.  
  
"Will, let's face it," Xander said. "Kendra's just gotten to the point where she can speak to me or Oz without going catatonic. If either one of us asked her to dance she might actually bolt."  
  
Cordelia frowned. "How can a big bad Slayer be so shy around boys? She makes Willow look like a dominatrix compared to her."  
  
"Now it's my turn to say 'hey,' " Oz said.  
  
"Okay, fine," Cordelia said. "I'll ask her to dance if it makes everybody feel better?"  
  
Giles held up a hand. "All right. I'm sure you all will come up with something. The important thing is to see if we can get her to let her guard down, if not for a moment. You still have plenty of time."  
  
"And lunch is almost over," Xander said. He grabbed his bag and he and Cordelia headed to the table.  
  
"Here." Oz held up his bag to Willow. "We picked up something for you too. I figured you might be hungry with doing all the researching."  
  
Willow smiled knowingly at him. "Thanks."  
  
He waited for her by the doorway as she came out from behind the counter. As they walked towards the table to join the others, Xander leaned in a little closer to Cordelia.  
  
"You never laugh at any of my dumb jokes," he whispered.  
  
Cordelia just looked at him. "And your point is?"  
  
  
End of Part Four  
  
  
  
  
FIRST THREAD: Part Five  
  
  
  
"I don't think she's coming," Willow said, unhappily.  
  
"There's still time," Oz tried to reassure her.  
  
"We've been here almost an hour."  
  
"Maybe she had to stop to do some slaying on the way?" Oz suggested.  
  
"I hope so. I mean, not that I hope she's late because she was in danger, just that--"  
  
Oz rubbed her shoulder and gave her a reassuring smile. They were seated in one of the couches along the far wall of the Bronze. There was a live band tonight so the dance floor had a good crowd, with Cordelia and Xander somewhere within.  
  
Willow was scanning the club again and her eyes lit up. "There she is!"  
  
Oz looked and saw Kendra walking in. She was in her usual ensemble of baggy pants, and a black leather jacket over a solid dark colored shirt. Her black hair was pulled back away from her face, with a hairclip, so her long curls spilled down her back and on her shoulders. She stopped and started to sweep the place with her eyes. Oz noticed a few of the guys standing close to her take notice of the Slayer. Kendra may not be used to doing the talking thing --or even the making eye-contact thing-- with boys, but she did have the pheromone nets casted and snared her fair share of appraising looks, he thought. Maybe it was a Slayer trait?  
  
Willow raised her arm to get her attention. She saw them and gave them a nod, but her calm expression didn't change. She gave another sweeping gaze towards the dance floor as she crossed the club towards them.  
  
Willow smiled at her as she approached. "Kendra. Hey. Fancy seeing you here," she said, in an innocent voice. "What a surprise." Oz loved how cute she looked when she tried to lie.  
  
"Hello, Willow," Kendra said.  
  
"Hey, Kendra," Oz said.  
  
She glanced at him, meeting his eyes for less than a second then lowered them, but resisted the habit she had of bowing her head in the presence of the young male species of the human race, which Oz felt was an improvement.  
  
"Uh . . . hi," she finally said.  
  
"Why don't you sit down," Willow offered.  
  
Kendra didn't say anything but sat down on the sofa across from them. Neither of them said anything for several seconds. It was hardly noticeable but Kendra seemed just a little nervous. She hid it well, Oz thought.  
  
"So what brings you to the Bronze?" Willow tried to sound casual.  
  
"Um . . . Mr. Giles t'ought dere might be vumpires here."  
  
"Oh, well, you know Giles," Willow waved a dismissive hand. "He sometimes worries a little too much."  
  
"But he was right."  
  
"But it's good that you're here, anyway. You can-- what?"  
  
"Mr. Giles was right."  
  
"He was?" Willow asked, surprised. Kendra nodded. "Vumpir-- uh, vampires are here? Right now?"  
  
"I only see one," Kendra told her.  
  
"Where?" Oz asked.  
  
"In de middle of de dance floor." Kendra didn't look over her shoulder, and continued, "Dancing, rather poorly, wit dat brown haired girl."  
  
Willow and Oz looked. They saw a couple; the guy wearing dark clothes with a `70's feel to them, and a thin, teenage brunette in dark leather pants, a midriff tanktop, and cutoff sleeves. She seemed to be in tune with the music but the guy was obviously listening to something only he could hear. "You mean the one doing the bad John Travolta imitation?" he asked.  
  
"De what?"  
  
"Sorry. `Saturday Night Fever' reference."  
  
"So aren't you gonna . . ." Willow raised her fist and made a stabbing motion.  
  
"I c'not stake him right here. Dat would sorta give away me secret identity."  
  
"Oh, right." Then Willow's eyes widened. She glanced at Oz. "Did she--?" She looked at Kendra. "Did you just make a joke?"  
  
"Sounded like one," Oz agreed.  
  
"Sorry," Kendra said. "I'll be more careful next time."  
  
Willow was speechless. Oz raised his eyebrows, impressed. "Two in a row."  
  
He wasn't sure but he would bet his favorite guitar pic that she was blushing a little under her soft brown skin. She sounded so serious when she had spoken he doubted she had meant them as jokes. But she didn't seem embarrassed by it. Best to keep the mood going.  
  
"This calls for a celebration," he said. "I'll get the drinks. Will?"  
  
"The usual," she said.  
  
"Kendra?" he asked, as he stood.  
  
"Uh, water."  
  
"They have a wide variety of sodas, even fruit drinks?" he offered.  
  
"Uh . . . no, tank you. Water."  
  
"Cool." He glanced back at Willow and she grinned at him, giving him a nod and he made his way to the snack bar.  
  
Kendra looked over her shoulder just to make sure the vampire was still on the dance floor, then turned back to Willow.  
  
After a few seconds, Willow said, "So, did Giles brief you about what happened last night at the Happy Burger?"  
  
Kendra nodded. "He said dere seemed to be a new group of vumpires in town. I'll patrol de area and see what I can find."  
  
"We can come with you," Willow offered.  
  
"Dat won't be necessary."  
  
"You sure? It's no problem, really."  
  
Kendra was about to reply but stopped and seemed to consider this. She didn't say anything for a moment. Finally, she said, "Maybe."  
  
Willow smiled at this. Looks like we're making progress, she thought.  
  
Oz returned with the drinks. "Here you go, Kendra," he handed a cup to her. He handed Willow hers as he sat down beside her again.  
  
"Oz," Willow said, happily. "Kendra said she might let us go on patrol with her."  
  
"Hm. Sounds like fun," he said, casually.  
  
"Maybe," Kendra repeated. She brought her cup to her lips and took a drink.  
  
She choked and started to cough. Oz leaned forward and grabbed her cup from her hand before she lost it. She held a fist to her mouth as she continued to cough hard.  
  
"Kendra, are you all right?" Willow asked, concerned.  
  
The coughs subsided and Kendra put a hand on her chest. There were tears in her eyes.  
  
"Sorry," Oz said. "Must've gave you the wrong cup."  
  
"What was dat?"  
  
"Sprite." At her questioning look, he said, "It's kinda strong. It can take novice drinkers by surprise. It's best to start out with something with a little less bite. Like 7-Up. Then work you're way up towards the heavier beverages: Coke, Pepsi. My bad."  
  
"You didn't like it?" Willow asked.  
  
"No. It--" Kendra stopped and regarded the cup. Oz offered it to her again. She hesitated for a second then reached out and accepted it. She took a sip, cautiously.  
  
Willow smiled. "I think she likes it." As Kendra's attention was on her beverage, Willow grabbed Oz's hand, holding his cup, and looked at the clear carbonated liquid it held. She narrowed her eyes at him. With a straight face he just tilted his head slightly.  
  
"Check out Slut-o-rama and her Disco Dave," Cordelia fumed, as she and Xander walked up to them. She pointed out the same couple Kendra had told them about. The guy was still showcasing his flair for the `70's. "What was the last thing that guy danced to, K.C. and the Sunshine Band?"  
  
She and Xander took a seat on the couch adjacent to Oz and Willow.  
  
Willow started to say, "Oh, he's not--"  
  
"Kendra. Hi," Xander said.  
  
Then they noticed the faint traces of tears in the Slayer's eyes. Cordelia looked at Willow and Oz.  
  
"What did you two say to her?" she demanded. "You were supposed to get her to have fun, not make her cry!"  
  
"But we--"  
  
"And you say I don't have any consideration for people's feelings," she cut Willow off.  
  
Kendra was looking at them all with a questioning expression and was about to say something when Oz spoke up.  
  
"Hey, they left."  
  
"What?" Cordelia asked.  
  
"The vampire."  
  
"What vampire?" Xander asked.  
  
"Disco Dave."  
  
Kendra had set down her drink and was already on her feet. Willow and Oz hurried after her, leaving behind a confused Cordelia and Xander. They exchanged a look then followed.  
  
They caught up to the others outside. Oz and Willow were standing behind Kendra and they were scanning the dark alley around them.  
  
"Maybe he wasn't even a vampire?" Cordelia said. "They're probably just making out."  
  
They heard a crash some distance down the alley. "Hey!" a girl cried out.  
  
Xander pulled a stake from his jacket and was about to offer it to Kendra when she took off in that direction, pulling out a stake from her own jacket.  
  
"That's not what making out sounds like," Willow said, as they started to follow the Slayer. "Unless I'm doing it wrong."  
  
They rounded the corner to see the vampire, vamped out, holding the young girl against a section of chain-link fence leaning on the building's wall. He was lowering his fangs toward her neck when she suddenly grabbed him by the throat and punched him across the face with her other fist. Kendra and the others stopped in their tracks as they watched the vampire rocked by the blow, staggering back. The brunette hopped up on a wooden crate and sprung into a roundhouse kick hitting the creature in the face again, knocking him to the pavement.  
  
The girl saw she had an audience and approached them, looking at Kendra. "It's okay, I've got it. You're, uh, Kendra, right?"  
  
Kendra just stared at the girl but nodded automatically.  
  
Behind the girl, the vampire was on his feet and charged her grabbing her by the shoulders. She immediately threw her head back, smashing him in the face, not taking her eyes off Kendra.  
  
"I'm Faith."  
  
Faith grabbed one of the vamp's hands off her shoulder and turned on him, twisting his arm behind his back and shoved him against the chain-link fence.  
  
"I'm gonna go out on a limb and say there's a new Slayer in town," Oz said, calmly.  
  
They continued to watch as the new Slayer proceeded to beat the unliving crap out of the poor vampire. She tossed him to the pavement again and turned to face them.  
  
"Mind if I borrow these?" she said, snatching Kendra's and Xander's stakes out of their hands.  
  
The vampire charged her again from behind. Faith waited until the last instant before she sidestepped and slammed Kendra's stake in a backhand swing into his chest. The vamp barely had time to clutch his punctured chest when the brunette spun around and slammed Xander's stake into his back and he was already turning into dust as he arched in pain, then exploded.  
  
Hardly breathing heavy, Faith faced them again, and handed back their stakes. Xander took his back numbly, but Kendra was a little more composed as she accepted hers.  
  
"Thanks," Faith said. "Couldn't have done it without you."  
  
With that Faith stepped around the group and strolled back towards the Bronze and they turned to watch her disappear around the corner.  
  
  
End of Part Five  
  
  
  
  
FIRST THREAD: Part Six  
  
  
  
"The whole summer it was, like, the worst heat wave," said Faith. "So it's about a hundred and eighteen degrees and I'm sleeping without a stitch on."  
  
At this, Xander perked up with interest. They were back on the sofas on the far side of the snack bar. Faith was sitting on a stool, higher than the others, as she continued her story without stopping to catch her breath. They were all listening, though Cordelia wasn't all that impressed, mostly because of how interested Xander seemed to be, and Kendra just regarded the new Slayer with quiet stoicism.  
  
A waitress made a quick stop to place a tray of muffins on the coffee table they were gathered around.  
  
"And all of a sudden, I hear this screaming from outside. So I go tearing out, stark nude, and this church bus has broke down, and there's these three vamps feasting on half the Baptists in South Boston. So I waste the vamps, and the preacher comes up, and he's hugging me like there's no tomorrow, when all of a sudden, the cops pull up and they arrested us both."  
  
Finished, she reached down and grabbed one of the muffins, immediately tearing into it. Xander just sat there with an awed expression on his face.  
  
"Wow. They should film that story and show it every Christmas."  
  
He didn't see the look of daggers Cordelia gave him as his attention was on Faith.  
  
"God, I could eat a horse," the brunette Slayer said, around a mouthful, ripping off another piece of muffin and stuffing that into her mouth as well. "Isn't it crazy how slaying just always makes you hungry and horny?"  
  
This caused everyone to look at Kendra whose expression suddenly flickered in slight discomfort. Taking into consideration the fact that her first Watcher prohibited her from even speaking to boys, Willow decided to refocus the attention.  
  
"Uh, so, um, what brings you to Sunnydale, Faith?" she asked.  
  
Faith actually took time to finish her current mouthful before she answered. "Well, there was nothing really happening in Boston and I heard my Watcher mention how this place was on top of a Hellmouth, whatever that is."  
  
"Oh, that's your basic doorway to hell," Xander said, casually. "So what was that story, uh, about the alligator? You said something before . . ."  
  
"Oh, there's this big daddy vampire out of Missouri used to keep them as pets." With the remnants of the muffin in her hand, she started to make grappling gestures with her arms. "So he's got me wrasslin' one of `em, okay? The thing must have been twelve feet long and I'm--"  
  
"So was this, um, also naked?"  
  
Faith gave him a teasing smile. "Well, the alligator was."  
  
Xander laughed along with her and Cordelia finally spoke up.  
  
"Xander, find a new theme," she said, with the promise of dire consequences if he didn't.  
  
"Did the alligator get hurt?" Willow said, concern in her voice.  
  
Faith tilted her head nonchalantly. "Only a little." Willow was expressing her relief when, "Then it was dead."  
  
"Oh."  
  
Faith shook her head in remembrance. "I tell ya, I never had more trouble than that damn vamp." Then she must've put the memory aside because she rested her elbows on her knees and propped her chin on her fists. "Anyway, this seemed to be where all the action was so I decided to have a look. I heard that the last Slayer died here."  
  
This suddenly sobered everyone and Faith narrowed her eyebrows as she saw this. "What?"  
  
"Uh, Buffy . . ." Willow started to say but faltered.  
  
"We knew her," Oz stepped in. "She kind of died saving the world."  
  
"Oh." Faith brushed her hair from her face with her hand. "Hey, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bring up bad memories."  
  
"Well, it was--" Xander stopped. "Well, it wasn't too long ago, but we're dealing."  
  
"You couldn't have known," Willow added.  
  
"So your Watcher sent you here?" Kendra asked.  
  
The sudden change in subject caught everyone off guard. It took Faith a few seconds before she realized what she had been asked. "Uh, no. My Watcher went on that retreat in England." She paused for a moment, then asked, "Didn't your Watcher go? I thought it was, like, this big deal once a year for all the Watchers?"  
  
"Unless he packed up and left right after school," Xander said, "he's still   
here."  
  
"There's actually a retreat for Watchers?" Cordelia said. "*That* sounds like fun." Nobody missed the sarcasm of her words.  
  
"I don't remember Giles ever making a trip to England before," Willow said.  
  
"And he's never mentioned this retreat thing either," Xander added.  
  
"I wonder why he's never gone?"  
  
Kendra spoke up. "Mr. Zabuto was very strict about duty. Once I was called he stopped going. He said it would interfere wit me training."  
  
"So maybe Giles thinks that as well," Oz commented.  
  
"Mr. Zabuto?" Faith asked Kendra. "Was he another Watcher?"  
  
"He was me first Watcher."  
  
"What happened to him?" Faith asked.  
  
"He died about two months ago." Kendra's expression hadn't changed as she said this.  
  
"Man," Faith said. "I'm sorry to hear that." She seemed to consider her next words. "That's got to be rough?"  
  
Kendra nodded once. But to Willow it didn't seem like a nod of thanks for Faith's sentiments, but more like a "it happens" nod of acceptance. It was as if Kendra was back in what Xander had called her "Terminator" mode. And they had been so close to bringing her out from behind her Slayer-first facade. Now she understood what Cordelia meant about her having a mask for every ocassion. She realized this was Kendra's "untouchable" facade. What was even more frightening, Willow thought, this may actually be her only "real" face.  
  
  
*********  
  
  
"So what do you think? Workable?" Mr. Trick asked.  
  
The sharp-dressed black man took a few steps in front of the parked limousine. He appeared to be in his early thirties but was in fact much older. Being a vampire did have its advantages. He casually turned in place to survey the rundown firehouse around them. It seemed as if the place had been in the middle of renovations when it was abandoned. Carpentry tools and equipment were still laying about where it looked like they hadn't been touched in years. Probably the victim of budget cuts or a union strike.  
  
Or maybe the workers just kept disappearing mysteriously and the project was canceled, he thought. With this town's history it wouldn't surprise him. Either way he felt this would be an ideal location to set up shop.  
  
He still hadn't recieved a reply to his question and turned to look at the master. The large vampire had made himself at home on a dust-covered easy chair, just sitting solemnly. Another vampire had already lit some incense and was casually swinging a censer as he walked around filling the firehouse with a thin haze of smoke.  
  
The master was usually more open to his ideas than this, Trick thought. Which was one of the reasons why he didn't allow his vampires to kill him when Trick had been their human prey. Instead he was turned because the master recognized a quick and imaginative mind in him. Unfortunately, as of late, the master had become quite a different demon, which Trick was finding hard to adjust to. They had had a perfectly good operation going in Boston for the past decade, nothing like his home state of Missouri. There was the occasional human, or group of humans, who stumbled onto the reality of vampires and tried to stop them, but they had been dealt with without much effort.  
  
But then the Slayer appeared.  
  
Almost out of nowhere she started giving them problems over the summer. Word had it that the young girl had only been called to duty just a few months ago, which meant she was a newcomer to the business, and yet she had quickly reduced their numbers in half, making the city a very dangerous place for the nocturnal breed. Despite all the master's planning he hadn't been able to kill the Slayer, much less find out who she was, until Trick took it upon himself to put into action his own plan. The master had been most displeased that Trick had commandeered a few of his minions, behind his back, to act as decoy and keep the Slayer busy while he captured her with a camcorder and later fed her image into a computer search. But the end results stayed any punishment he would have otherwised received had the search proved fruitless. Luckily, Trick had more faith in modern technology than the others. The master was one of the oldest, if not *the* oldest, vampires in history. Just as luckily, it turned out the young Slayer was very much the juvenile delinquent and he quickly found her place of residence.  
  
This put him in good standing with the master and setting the trap went off without a hitch. But the master made the mistake of not killing the girl right off. He wanted to make her suffer first. Toy with her. He was a sadistic old bastard, Trick thought. If anyone had asked him, Trick would have said the master deserved what he got. Of course, he would also make sure he was a couple of state lines away when he said that. Until then, he had to deal with the master and his new obsession. Very dangerous obession.  
  
"I'll take that as a 'yes,' " Trick said. The master still didn't say anthing. "Of course, we'll have to check the wiring, see what type of electrical support we have here. And with this town's history we can blend in quite nicely. The long-term benefits--"  
  
"The only thing you need concern yourself with, Mr. Trick," the master's low gravelly voice interrupted him, "is finding me the Slayer. Nothing else matters."  
  
Trick, very wisely, suppressed a sigh. This old riff again, he thought. The guy had a one-track mind. Oh, well, Trick knew how to play this game also.  
  
"As soon as we get set up I'll start a computer search," Trick said. "Since the town is small, it shouldn't prove difficult looking for one runaway. Even if she is a Slayer."  
  
"A Slayer," a voice said, loudly.  
  
The master bolted out of the chair and swung around in the direction the voice came from. The other vampires gathered around as well, ready to spring into action at his word. Trick focused his gaze at the dark alcove located underneath the second floor, and made out the outline of the person standing there. His face was suddenly illuminated as the stranger lit a cigarette with a zippo lighter. He flicked the lighter closed and shoved it in the pocket of his long leather coat as he stepped out of the shadows, taking a long pull on the cig.  
  
Exhaling the smoke, the newcomer indicated the cigarette he held between his fingers. "Don't mind if I smoke, do you? Incense plays bloody murder on the sinuses." The stranger looked at the group without concern, then centered his eyes on the master. "You're Kakistos," he stated.  
  
"Who are you?" Kakistos demanded, in a threatening tone.  
  
The stranger grinned. "Spike."  
  
  
  
End of part Six  
  
  
  
  
FIRST THREAD: Part Seven  
  
  
  
Patrol was pretty uneventful last night. Aside from the vampire Faith had staked, Kendra hadn't run across any other nightcrawlers. The new vamps in town must be laying low, not wanting to draw attention to themselves. But she asked herself what they could be hiding from? Maybe they knew a Slayer was already in town? Buffy never really had much success in keeping her secret identity a secret and word had a way of spreading among the demon community about such things.  
  
She had decided to patrol alone after all. Willow seemed disappointed by this which only reinforced what she suspected. That Giles sending her to the Bronze had been something arranged by them in an attempt to . . . she wasn't sure what they had been trying to do. She figured they might be wanting to make her a friend, the way Buffy had been their friend. While their company wasn't unagreeable, Kendra was still unclear on how she felt about having them as friends.  
  
With Buffy, that was different. She had been a fellow Slayer, a comrade in the fight against evil. And Mr. Zabuto didn't seem to have any objections to her associating with her, or Mr. Giles. But any other relationship she could have had was deemed irrelevant. All that mattered was her duty.  
  
Which was also why Giles confused her sometimes. On those nights he happened to be awake when she returned from patrol, the first thing he would ask was if she was all right. At times it was like her well being was more important than fulfilling her obligations.  
  
She reasoned that with the loss of Buffy, he may not want to lose another Slayer under his care. Mr. Zabuto had often said that if the Slayer was killed then the Watcher had failed in his duty.  
  
Giles wasn't awake when she had returned from patrol last night, so she didn't wake him, which was also different from Mr. Zabuto. As soon as she would complete a patrol Mr. Zabuto wanted her to report to him promptly. Even if there was nothing to report and if he were asleep. After the first couple of nights Kendra had wakened Giles, he explained that it was perfectly all right to wait till morning to make her report. Unless of course it   
was an emergency or something world threatening.  
  
The arrival of the new Slayer, though significant, wasn't what she would consider an emergency, but she did inform him about Faith as soon as he awoke. He was quite eager to meet the new Slayer.  
  
"Yes, there is a Watcher's retreat every year in the Cotswolds," he said, as he paced back and forth on the other side of the table in the library.  
  
Kendra was standing beside Faith. Willow and Xander were sitting on the edge of the table.  
  
"It's a lovely spot," Giles continued. "It's very serene. There's horse riding and hiking and punting and lectures and discussions." A faint smile of longing tugged on his lips. " It-it's a great honor to be invited." The smile disappeared and he said, almost bitterly, "Or so I'm told."  
  
Willow gave him a pouty expression, feeling bad for him, but before she could say anything, Faith spoke up.  
  
"Oh, it's boring," she said, offhandishly. "Way too stuffy for a guy like you."  
  
"You realize you are talking about Giles, right?" Xander said.  
  
"I know," Faith said, not backing down, giving Giles another look. "If I had known Watchers came that young and cute I would've requested a transfer."  
  
Faith didn't see Kendra frown at her and Xander's expression almost turned ill. Giles chuckled softly, and then cleared his throat.  
  
"Uh, well, leaving aside for a moment, my youth and beauty, uh, I'd say that it was fortuitous that Faith arrived when she did."  
  
"You're talking about the new vamps in town?" Willow asked.  
  
"New vamps?" Faith said.  
  
"Yes," Giles said, picking up a newspaper. "It seems two more people have disappeared from the Sunset Ridge District." He handed her the paper and Faith looked it over. Kendra had already seen it so she just watched the new Slayer. "They seemed to have arrived in town about two days ago."  
  
"I should not have gone to dat club last night," Kendra said. "I might have been able to stop it."  
  
"Kendra, the abductions could have occurred on the same night when the first victim was taken," Giles said. "And you can't be everywhere at once."  
  
Willow watched Kendra as Giles said this to her. But from Kendra's expression it seemed as if he was wasting his time consoling her. Kendra had just stated a fact, she wasn't blaming anything nor accepting blame herself.  
  
"I will patrol dis Sunset Ridge area," she told him. "Maybe dey are still close by. I mean, if dat is ah'right wit you, sir?"  
  
"If you think that's best," Giles said. But Kendra didn't reply, still waiting for his answer. He forced himself not to sigh, and said, "Yes, that's a good idea." From the corner of his eye he saw Willow looking at him and she gave him a tiny tilt of her head towards Faith. "Uh, actually, I think it would be a good idea if Faith accompanied you."  
  
Kendra looked at the brunette. Faith grinned.  
  
"Hey, I'm all for a little action. Two Slayers working together. Bad news for the vamps, if you ask me."  
  
Kendra just nodded.  
  
Feeling like she should take up the slack for Kendra's non-verbalness, Willow said, "You see, Faith? You'll never be bored here. Sunnydale is a hotspot for demonic activity." Then she brightened as she got an idea and hopped off the table. "Hey, why don't we give you a tour of the school?"  
  
"Yeah," Xander chipped in. "You wouldn't believe the kind of things we have to put up with in this place. A lot of weird stuff happens here."  
  
"In this library alone, we--" Willow stopped and her smile faded. She resisted the urge to look over her shoulder at the stairs behind her.  
  
"C'mon," Xander said quickly. "Say yes, and bring your stories."  
  
"Alright," Faith replied.  
  
"Kendra," Willow said, as they were about to leave. "Are you coming?"  
  
"No, I have to prepare for tonight's patrol," she said.  
  
Willow tried to suppress her surprise at this. If there was one thing that Kendra always was, it was prepared. She glanced at Faith who was looking at Kendra and Willow could have sworn she saw a flicker of disappointment in the new Slayer's eyes.  
  
"Oh, okay," Willow said. "Well, we can all meet up at lunch. We can buy you a Sprite," she suggested with a grin.  
  
Kendra's head tilted slightly and it almost looked like there was a small tug of a smile on her face. But it was only a flicker and was gone.  
  
"I'll see you den," Kendra said.  
  
Willow smiled for real, this time. "Cool."  
  
"Hey, later," Faith said, to Kendra then pointed at Giles. " *We* will talk weapons."  
  
She walked with Willow and Xander out of the library. Kendra watched them disappear through the double doors then turned towards the weapons cabinet in the book cage. Giles regarded her with quiet concern.  
  
Finally, he said, "Well, this, um, new girl seems to have a lot of zest." He sat on the edge of the table.  
  
Kendra was holding the bookcage's door open and looked over her shoulder at him. "She seems t'be well trained."  
  
"You said you saw her slay a vampire last night. How would you rate her performance?"  
  
Kendra only took a second to consider. "She did an adequate job. It took her longer dan it should have for her to slay de creature. She was a bit --how would you say? --flashy."  
  
Giles nodded. "You feel she wasn't focused enough on the task?"  
  
Kendra shook her head. "She was focused. Dere was just too much energy wasted." She paused for a few seconds. "She is a bit emotional."  
  
This perked Giles' interest. "Really? What makes you say that?"  
  
Again, Kendra took time to consider her answer. This was new territory for her. Evaluating strategy, fighting technique, and opponents' strengths was something she excelled in. Forming an opinion of one's emotional state was something she rarely did. Usually, Giles would have to be the one to broach the subject, so she really surprised him by bringing it up first.  
  
"She seemed t'be having fun," Kendra said, uncertainly. "De way she was telling her stories."  
  
"Well," Giles began, removing his glasses, "that's not surprising. Many tend to put, uh, a lighter touch when recounting dangerous, life-threatening experiences."  
  
"But a Slayer is not to let emotions interfere wit her duty," Kendra insisted.  
  
"Yes. I realise that was something your Watch-- uh, Mr. Zabuto emphasized in your training, and I don't mean to disrespect his dedication to you." He paused to take a breath. "But that may not have been the best way to teach you."  
  
"What do you mean?" she asked.  
  
"Well," Giles began, then took a breath. "Kendra, I will always try to be here for you, but there, undoubtedly, will come a time when you will have to rely on yourself. And I won't be able to help you."  
  
"A Slayer is trained t'be prepared for any situation," Kendra stated.  
  
Giles nodded. "Yes. As Watchers we do our best to instill everything a Slayer will need to know in order to survive, should anything happen to us, but . . . there are some things that cannot be taught." Kendra was listening attentively, as she always did, and didn't say anything. "You may find yourself in a situation where you will have to improvise and make decisions for yourself. Go with your instincts, and, quite possibly, go against your training." She titled her head at this. "Uh, do you understand what I'm saying?"  
  
"I tink," she said, but Giles wasn't sure she really did.  
  
He put his glasses back on. "Um, we can discuss this further later today."  
  
Kendra nodded. "I should return to class."  
  
The Slayer closed the bookcage, leaving behind the weapons she never really needed for her patrol. Giles watched her until she disappeared through the doors.  
  
"Please don't let me fail another," he whispered to the empty library.  
  
  
******  
  
  
"So what do you think?" Spike asked, as he entered the tunnel.  
  
"It looks like we're in the right place," a short vampire said.  
  
Spike nodded his head and, in a casual tone, said, "Well, since it looks like the right place I'll rip out your teeth if it isn't. Hmm? How's that sound?"  
  
The vampire was frightened by this. "Uh, this is the right place."  
  
"How long?"  
  
"Another day, at least. Maybe two."  
  
Spike stepped up close to the vampire and looked down at him. "Well, I certainly don't want to wait two days, so I suggest you start digging, because if I don't have it in my hand by tomorrow we'll find out just how detachable you really are."  
  
The vampire couldn't say anything and just nodded. He quickly grabbed a jackhammer and joined a few other vampires further up the tunnel where they were loudly drilling into the rock.  
  
Lucius stepped up behind Spike who was pulling out a cigarette and lighting it.  
  
"How did the meeting go?" the tall vampire asked.  
  
"These new players should stay out of our way. Looks like a new Slayer is also in town and they're after this bird. You ever heard of a fella named Kakistos?" Lucius shook his head. "He's this real old guy. Not too bright but makes up for it in girth. Turns out this Slayer, Faith, did a real ugly one on him, we're talking real ugly." Spike made a casual slashing move with his fingers down the right side of his face from forehead, over his eye, and down his cheek. He chuckled slightly. "Not that he was the prettiest bloke to begin with, but he's got his mind set on really making this girl suffer."  
  
He released a puff of smoke.   
  
"All we got to do is play nice," Spike continued, "let them think we're helping them find this girl."  
  
"Do we?" Lucius asked. "Help them find her."  
  
"I already know where she is. It's likely she's made contact with the homebase Slayer. She's alone, on the run, no doubt she'd be looking for allies. It shouldn't be too hard for our new friends to find them. And while they're busy killing each other, we'll be able to work without any pesky Slayer interruptions."  
  
Lucius nodded and looked up the tunnel where the digging continued.  
  
"Do you really think it's here?"  
  
"I'm sure of it." Spike's voice took on a faraway quality as if speaking to someone not in the room. "And once I have it, this whole town will burn."  
  
  
******  
  
  
"Oh, and over there in the lounge is where Spike and his gang nearly massacred us all on Parent-Teacher night," Willow said, as she and Xander led Faith down the hall.  
  
During the tour, Willow noticed how impressed Faith seemed to be with all the things they told her had happened in the school. Even though she was a Slayer, she had only been active for the past five months or so. That wasn't nearly enough time to compare to the year and a half she and Xander had spent with Buffy dealing with the evil forces. She felt the usual pang of sadness in her heart that always made itself known whenever she thought of her dead friend. Every time she thought she was making progress in healing the pain of loss, it seemed to always return in force.  
  
As they continued down the hall, she noticed the stairs leading up to the next floor. Willow pointed them out to Faith, more to distract herself from her own thoughts.  
  
"Oh, a-and up those stairs, I was sucked into a muddy grave." She actually made her voice sound light.  
  
They stopped walking and Faith stepped in front to face both of them.  
  
"And they say young people don't learn anything in high school, nowadays" Xander said. "But I've learned to be afraid."  
  
Faith laughed with a grin. "You guys are a hoot and half. If I'd had friends like you in high school, I . . ." She stopped to consider. "probably still would've dropped out. But I might've been sad about it, you know?"  
  
***  
  
Kendra reached the end of the hallway when she heard laughter coming from around the corner. She stopped and looked down the other hall to see Faith; her back to Kendra, facing Willow and Xander. They were the source of the laughter. Kendra was about to step out into the hall when Faith's next words stopped her.  
  
"So, what's up with Ken? She seems kinda--"  
  
"On nonstop active duty?" Xander supplied.  
  
Kendra took a step back behind the corner but was still able to see them.  
  
"Yeah," Faith said. "What's her story?"  
  
"Well, uh, Kendra," Willow began. "All her life she was . . ."  
  
"Oh, water," Faith said, pointing behind them. She walked back from where they came from to the water fountain next to the door of the cafeteria.  
  
"Oh, and then your alligator story!" Xander called out to her. Still gazing at Faith as she bent down to take a drink, he said, to Willow, "She's got something, doesn't she?"  
  
"What is it with you and Slayers?"  
  
Willow and Xander turned to see Cordelia suddenly standing behind them.  
  
"So, those are your friends?" said a voice behind Kendra.  
  
The Slayer spun around and found herself facing a girl her age. She was dressed in a simple dress with matching twin set, carrying a couple of text books in her arm. She had light brown hair that hung straight and cut evenly at shoulder length.  
  
"Who are you?" Kendra asked, a little sharply, but that was more to do with her not realizing someone was behind her than at the girl herself.  
  
The girl either wasn't offended by her tone or didn't care, but her mouth curled slightly in a smile. "Oh, you can call me Anya." When Kendra didn't say anything, Anya said, "And you're Kendra."  
  
Kendra's eyebrows narrowed slightly. "How d'ye know my name?"  
  
"I've seen you around," Anya said, pleasantly. "You've been quite the talk around school lately."  
  
"What d'ye mean?" Kendra asked.  
  
But Anya was looking past the Slayer at Willow, Xander, Cordelia, and Faith. "Those are your friends? They look like nice people." She returned her gaze to Kendra. "Why aren't you with them?"  
  
Kendra just continued to regard the girl for a silent moment.  
  
"Don't you want to be with them?" Anya asked.  
  
"Ye're not human," Kendra told her.  
  
Anya's pleasant expression fell, but then she smiled broadly. "Very good. I see we won't have to waste time getting to know each other."  
  
"What d'ye want here?" Kendra demanded, but kept her voice low so as not to attract attention from the occasional passing student. There was no telling what this creature in disguise was capable of. And she couldn't just slay it right here at school. But as long as it was willing to keep things nonviolent, then Kendra can as well. Until she got this thing someplace more private.  
  
Anya just shrugged. "I'm just observing."  
  
"Observing what?"  
  
"You."  
  
Kendra blinked. "What?"  
  
"I'm observing you," Anya said.  
  
Kendra was silent for a few seconds. "Why?"  
  
Anya took a step closer. Kendra started to ease her hand inside her jacket.  
  
"Oh, calm down," Anya said. "I'm not going to try anything right here. And besides, I don't thing you really want to draw that kind of attention to yourself. It would blow your secret identity or at least make you more an outcast than you already are."  
  
Kendra was surprised at the sudden anger she felt at hearing those words.  
  
Again, Anya looked past her and nodded her head toward Willow and the others. "Look at them. They're all so lively."  
  
Kendra looked over her shoulder, before realizing she was turning away from an enemy, but could not stop from looking at what she saw. She saw that Cordelia was walking away from the others and Willow and Xander were watching Faith talk to a male student by the water fountain. The brunette was smiling at the young man and he in turn was smiling at Faith. She seemed to be speaking to him with such ease --something Kendra could not yet do-- without a trace of awkwardness on her part. Faith looked in total control of the conversation as well.  
  
Kendra recognized the student. His first name was Scott. She had never heard his last name or she would have remembered it.  
  
Anya continued, "They may not always be happy, but they do have that . . . human quality about them."  
  
Kendra turned her head sharply to give Anya a threatening look. The smile on her human looking features widened.  
  
"I believe we struck a nerve," she said. "But it's not you're fault really. Despite what you've been told, do you honestly believe Slayer's are really human?" She tilted her head forward towards the Faith. "Sure, that one may have the act down, but then you've been in the game much longer than she has. You know the truth."  
  
"I tink you should leave now," Kendra said, in an even tone.  
  
Anya didn't respond to the threat, just gazed into Kendra's eyes. Almost as if searching.  
  
"You truly do not realize how unique you are, do you, Kendra?"  
  
Her voice had softened as she spoke. Intimate sounding, as if passing a secret. Kendra wasn't sure how to reply to that, so didn't.  
  
"And I'm not talking about you being a Slayer." Anya's voice dropped lower. "What if I were to tell you that you weren't even supposed to be here?"  
  
Kendra resisted the urge to ask what she meant, refusing to play this creature's games. But she couldn't deny that she wanted to hear more. As if sensing this, Anya continued.  
  
"I don't mean here in Sunnydale. I mean alive. Right now. You shouldn't be here." Anya paused. As to explain, she said, "The universe is an endless plane of possibilities. Every choice every person can make exists in one reality or another. Say you were walking down a street and decided to turn right. In another reality, you did choose to go left. Maybe as you were crossing the street you get hit by a bus or a truck. In that reality where you went left, you're now dead. But in the reality you went right, you're still alive."  
  
Kendra narrowed her eyes at her and started to turn away. Anya quickly grabbed her by the arm. Kendra's response was immediate. She twisted her forearm under Anya's grip and freed herself as she grabbed the creature's arm. Anya was taken by surprise and Kendra had almost twisted her arm back, but the false schoolgirl recovered and flexed her arm, stopping Kendra's move. The Slayer wasn't surprised by Anya's strength, she knew she wasn't human but the fact that she was able to match Kendra's was cause for alarm.  
  
But Anya didn't seem to want to escalate matters into an all out fight. Her voice only gave the slightest hint of her struggle against Kendra, but she kept a pleasant grin on her face.  
  
"Are we going to dance right here in the hallway where everybody can see us?" she asked.  
  
Kendra took a quick look around. No one had noticed their small conflict yet. After a few more seconds, Kendra released her. Anya smiled at her as she rubbed her forearm with her other hand while balancing her books in her arm.  
  
"God certainly wasn't stingy when it came time to passing out muscles to you Slayer-types, was He?"  
  
"And who d'ye worship?" Kendra asked.  
  
"I'm one to be worshipped. I don't answer to anyone."  
  
"What d'ye follow'rs call you den?"  
  
"Uh-uh. I can't just tell you everything right now. Where would the fun be in that?" She smiled teasingly at her. "Don't worry. We will talk again."  
  
"Kendra," she heard Willow's voice from behind her.  
  
She looked over her shoulder and saw the redhead walking towards her. Behind her, she saw Scott handing a small piece of paper to Faith and the brunette told him she would see him later. Kendra returned her gaze to Anya and--  
  
Didn't see her.  
  
The hallway before her was empty. It was also too long for her to have slipped away in the short time Kendra had turned her head. And she hadn't heard her make a sound. Before she could dwell on what just happened, Willow was by her side.  
  
"Hey, Kendra. Were you talking to someone?"  
  
Kendra glanced at her then scanned the still empty hall again. She finally turned to Willow. "No." She noticed Willow's expression becoming a little concern so she said, in a more even tone. "No. Dere was nobody here."  
  
Willow didn't respond right away. "Oh. Okay. Come on. We were just gonna go to lunch."  
  
Kendra nodded and started to follow the redhead towards the cafeteria. But she took one more look over her shoulder down the hall before she rounded the corner.  
  
  
  
End of Part Seven  
  
  
  



	3. Parts 08 - 11

  
  
  
FIRST THREAD: Part Eight  
  
  
  
  
  
  
"So how long have you been a Slayer?"  
  
"About a year and a half now," Kendra replied without looking at the new Slayer.  
  
They were patrolling the Sunset Ridge District and so far hadn't seen anything remotely vampy. When she had gone to Giles' apartment to meet up with Kendra, the other Slayer didn't waste time with pleasantries, just took her leave of Giles and Faith found herself having to catch up with her. Faith could have gone for a quick bite before they left but that was no big deal. If these past few weeks had taught her anything it was how to go a while without food.  
  
"Do you like it?" Faith asked.  
  
This time Kendra did look at her, but didn't answer her right away. "'Tis me duty." Then she returned to scanning their surroundings as they continued down the dark alley.  
  
Faith realized that Kendra wasn't going to say anything further. "But how do you feel about it?" Faith tried again.  
  
"'Tis a great honor to be chosen. De Slayer is entrusted wit de fate of de world."  
  
"Sounds like you got the mission statement memorized."  
  
Kendra looked at her again, but didn't say anything.  
  
"What else did they tell you you should feel about this job?" Faith said. "I mean, one day someone just walks up to you and tells you that you're suddenly responsible for the whole world and everything in your own life is suddenly less important. What do you say to that?"  
  
"Dat is how tings are," Kendra simply said.  
  
Faith regarded her for a moment. "And that doesn't bother you?"  
  
The truth was, Faith really wasn't bothered by the fact that she left her old life behind when she was called as a Slayer. It wasn't like she was in love with that life. After she met her Watcher things seemed to turn around for Faith. Where as she had no clear direction on the streets of Boston before she was the Slayer, her Watcher showed her something she had never thought she would see. And it wasn't just vampires. She actually showed Faith that there was a goal in life to attain. That what she did was important. Mattered. That she mattered.  
  
Faith couldn't recall any other time she had dedicated herself to anything as much as she did to her training. Her Watcher, though Faith could tell she was as new to being a Watcher as Faith was a Slayer, had been very impressed with Faith's quick acceptance, not only of her responsibilities, but to her training as well. Faith hadn't really been fond of the book part of being a Slayer. Her Watcher said that although she would handle the research and origin side of demon fighting, it would still benefit Faith to have at least a familiarization with some of the written literature.  
  
Reluctant she was, at first, but once she started reading the first book she hadn't noticed she had been reading for four hours until she had finished the book and saw the time. Instead of informing her Watcher that she had read the whole book, Faith picked up another and started to read that one. She hadn't looked up from the pages until her Watcher had come to her room with dinner for her and Faith could still remember the way her Watcher had looked at her. The pride on her face. The pride she had in her Slayer. In Faith. Though she never told Faith --God forbid a Watcher get all mushy-- she could tell she was proud of her. There were more times than Faith could count when she had seriously taxed her Watcher's patience. She would be firm with Faith, but she would never raise her voice, never yell at her.  
  
The only time Faith had heard her yell was on that last night. Her Watcher had been screaming. Begging for her life. Not her own life. Pleading for Faith's life. The vampires had only laughed. As she was tortured she had screamed at Faith not to watch, but Faith had been unable to look away. She was powerless to save her Watcher and the one thing --the last thing her Watcher ever told her to do-- Faith couldn't even do that for her.  
  
After she died, Faith could not recall what actually happened next. Kakistos, covered in her Watcher's blood, was approaching her, about to do the same to Faith. And then Faith was suddenly free, also covered in blood, but not her own, and she ran. And kept running. She had ran on foot until she had reached the city limits before she came back to herself and realized she needed some kind of plan.  
  
Faith had acquired some supplies she would need, money and clothes. She hadn't stolen a thing since she was called, and was actually thinking that her days of stealing were over, but she didn't really feel bad about the things she took. It was a matter of survival. Not much different from when she was living out on the streets. But she was the Slayer, she thought, that had to mean something. Money and other material things could be replaced, the lives Faith could save could not. And she did make up for her stealing. Every town she traveled through she would patrol that one night she would stay, not just to acquire more money, but to cling onto something she knew. What her Watcher taught her. And with each vampire or demon she had slain she struck back at the forces that killed her.  
  
But, as irony would have it, her slayage was how Kakistos and his pack were able to track her. She had been somewhere in Arizona when they had almost caught her but she managed to escape. From that point, she had stopped patrolling, therefore stopped stealing. Which was why she had used up the last of her money on that dump of a motel she was now staying at.  
  
She had known about Kendra moving here a couple of months ago because her Watcher had mentioned it. She explained how the last Slayer was killed here but didn't have any particular details about how she died. Faith's Watcher had said that Buffy had been the Slayer for about three years, and almost let slip that that was longer than-- but stopped herself. But Faith had known what she almost said. That Buffy stayed alive longer than most Slayers.  
  
"Why should it bother me?" Kendra asked.  
  
Faith shrugged. "It's just . . . I would think that some of the girls would not like having their whole life turned up-side-down." She watched Kendra from the corner of her eye but the other Slayer didn't look at her. "I'd imagine that some of them would even be scared."  
  
"Probably," was all she said.  
  
"So, how well did you know Buffy?"  
  
This finally got Kendra's attention. But she didn't answer right away. Faith couldn't tell what she might be thinking.  
  
"Were you guys tight?"  
  
"We didn't know each other very long. I didn't even live in dis country."  
  
"But still," Faith persisted. "Both of you were Slayers. That gives you two a lot in common."  
  
"I suppose."  
  
Kendra didn't say anything else and the silence started to linger. Faith sighed.  
  
"You don't like to talk much, do you?" she said.  
  
"It's better to be focused while on patrol," Kendra said, a little pointedly.  
  
Faith narrowed her eyebrows slightly. Finally, she said, "Right." Then, softer, "I guess I haven't been a Slayer long enough to hone my focusing skills."  
  
"You'll learn," Kendra said.  
  
Faith shot her a look. "So you do got something to say?"  
  
They turned the corner at the end of the dark alley and were walking through an opening in a chain-link fence that led to a construction site. Everything was quiet. Except for them.  
  
When Kendra didn't say anything, Faith said, "Well?"  
  
The other Slayer just regarded her calmly. "You said it y'self."  
  
A challenging tone entered Faith voice. "What? Just because I feel like striking up a conversation while on patrol, that makes me unfocused?"  
  
"Someting like dat."  
  
"Well, excuse me for trying to be friendly. Now I understand what your friends were talking about."  
  
This made Kendra stop. Faith continued walking a few paces before she realized this then turned around to face her.  
  
"What were dey saying?" Kendra asked. She kept her voice even but Faith thought she finally saw a glint of something in her eyes. So, the Ice Slayer wasn't so frozen after all, she thought.  
  
She shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly. "Oh . . . not much really. They were just saying how you were taken away from your family and raised by your Watcher. The same Watcher you said died a couple of months back, huh?"  
  
Faith could swear she saw something simmering inside the Slayer. Kendra didn't even seem to realize she had taken a step toward Faith. Faith didn't step back and crossed her arms, a slight grin playing on her lips.  
  
"I was not taken from me family," Kendra said. "My people believe in de Slayer's cause so strongly dat dey would sacrifice anyting to ensure de world's safety."  
  
Faith raised her eyebrows. "Wow. I gotta say I'm impressed, Ken. I think you just said more to me just then, than you have since I've been here. To be honest, I wouldn't have mind if my family had sent me away to be raised by a Watcher. Maybe then I would be more like you."  
  
Faith started to turn to continue walking.  
  
Kendra's eyes narrowed slightly. "What d'ya mean, like me?"  
  
Faith turned to her again. "Well, you know. Have that one-track Slayer mind. Never let anything get in the way of `your calling.' Be the perfect little girl for the Watchers. Do your homework, floss your teeth, don't smoke, don't drink . . ." Faith grin became a little harder. "Don't mess around with boys." She shook her head slightly. "Were you really not allowed to even talk to boys back in your country? Was that something your people believed in also or was that something your Watcher thought up?"  
  
Kendra opened her mouth to reply, but stopped, a conflicted look on her face. But it was only for a couple of seconds and her expression returned to its neutral state. But Faith had seen enough to realize . . .  
  
"You really don't know, do you? Damn, they really sheltered the hell out of you, didn't they? What, they only let you out when they need you to kill some evil monster?"  
  
Kendra took another step closer to Faith and this time the brunette knew she saw anger in her eyes. "I tink you have said enough. We still have a duty to perform, if y're not here to do it, I suggest you go home. I can handle it meself."  
  
Faith continued to grin. "Well, it took some work, but I finally got some kind of reaction from you. So, tell me . . how does it feel?"  
  
Kendra seemed to calm down and regarded Faith with that cool expression again. "I know what y're trying to do."  
  
"Really?"  
  
"Buffy tried de same ting."  
  
"And what's that?"  
  
"She t'ought it would help to anger me. She said a Slayer's strength comes from her rage."  
  
Faith considered this. "A girl after my own heart. Maybe she just figured it was time for you to join the human race? She sounds really wise."  
  
Kendra's tone was cold, when she said, "And now she's really dead."  
  
Faith was caught off guard by this and before she could recover, Kendra had already walked past her to continue further through the construction site. Turning, Faith said, "I guess you guys weren't that tight, after all."  
  
Kendra quickly turned on Faith, the anger returning to her eyes. "Y'don't know de first ting about Buffy. Or me."  
  
Faith stood right in front of her. "Oh, yeah? I'll tell you what I do know." Faith looked over Kendra's shoulder and saw something. "I know that you have to MOVE!"  
  
Before Kendra could respond, Faith grabbed her by the shoulder and shoved her roughly aside where she tumbled to the ground. This left the path clear for the vampire that had been charging Kendra from behind to plow right into Faith.  
  
Faith managed to take control of the fall and when she landed on her back with the vampire on top, she kicked her legs up and continued the roll until she was on top, sitting across the vamp's chest. She quickly sent hard right and left punches into its fanged face, but before she could continue the beating, Faith brought her arms up to block the front kick aimed at her face from the second vampire that had followed close behind the first one. She retaliated with a right uppercut to the second vamp's groin, making him bend forward, then sent her other fist in an uppercut to his chin knocking him several feet back. This allowed the first vampire time to recover and it pushed Faith off of itself.  
  
By the time Kendra looked up, she was watching Faith being knocked off the first vampire and was rising to her knees as a third and fourth vamp emerged from the shadows and converged on the brunette as well. Kendra drew her stake and rushed after the last vampire, leaping forward, and struck a sidekick into its back. It staggered forward and his middle hit a sawhorse, with blinking yellow caution lights, and he tumbled over it onto his back.  
  
She checked on Faith's progress, who was already on her feet again, and spinning into a roundhouse kick that knocked the second vampire aside as the third one came at her while the first one was getting to its feet.  
  
"Faith!" Kendra called out and tossed the stake to her.  
  
The brunette had caught the third vamp's arm when it swung at her face and slammed her own fist into his face, followed with a hard knee to his gut, then flipped him over her shoulder when she heard Kendra. She saw the stake coming through the air towards her and made a move to catch it, but at the last instant, turned her attention to the first vamp as it rose from its knees. She swung a roundkick into its face, sending it back down and the stake fell to the ground, ignored.  
  
This caused Kendra to pause in surprise.  
  
Then she was slammed hard to the ground, the air getting knocked out of her lungs. As her vision regained focused, she felt a weight on her back, and the growling told her it was the fourth vampire. She berated herself for getting distracted and tried to knock the creature off.  
  
"For Kakistos we live!" she heard it say. "For Kakistos you'll die!"  
  
As she struggled against it, a part of Kendra's mind was telling her she had heard the word "Kakistos" before, but was unable to dwell on it further. She felt the vampire leaning down towards her neck, its growling filling her ear, and she squirmed, not giving it a chance to bite her. The vamp roared in frustration and yanked her around onto her back. Kendra used the momentum of the move to swing her arm up and hit him across the face with a backhand fist, and he tumbled off her.  
  
Meanwhile, Faith was backed up against a wall and was blocking a punching combination from the second vamp as the other two moved in on either side of her. She lashed out with her left hand to strike a backhand into the third vamp's face as he moved in, but this gave the second vampire the opening he needed to finally get a punch through her defense and hit her in the face. Faith fell back against the wall and the first vampire launched a high kick at her face. She let herself drop to the ground, kicking out and the heel of her boot connected with the second vamp's knee with a crunch, as the first vampire's foot broke through the wall where her head had been, and its leg got hung up. Faith got back to her feet as the second vamp staggered on its wounded knee, and she lashed out with another backhand to the third vamp before it could recover from the first one, and it fell to the ground. She closed on the second vamp and grabbed him by his shirt, pulling its face close to hers.  
  
"My dead mother hits harder than that!" she shouted in his face.  
  
She cocked back her fist and smashed it into the creature's face. Then again. And again. And again.  
  
Kendra was on her knees, as was her vampire foe. It swung a fist at her which she blocked with a forearm and countered with a punch of her own across its face, then swinging the same arm in a backhand, sent the vampire down. She shook her left arm and a stake slipped out of the sleeve of her jacket and closed her hand around it as she threw a glance in Faith's direction. She saw the brunette pummeling away on one of the vamps while the other two closed in behind her.  
  
"Faith!" Kendra shouted.  
  
But it didn't look as if Faith had even heard her. She just kept pounding her fist into the vampire's face, screaming.  
  
"You dead bastard!" Her face was twisted in an angry sneer and she was emphasizing her words with punches. "You can't touch me! Piece of shit! Motherfuck--"  
  
That was when the first vampire grabbed her from behind, wrapping her tightly in his grip pinning her arms at her sides. Before she could try to struggle, the third vamp punched her hard in the face snapping her head back.  
  
Kendra rose to her feet and was about to hurry to Faith's aid when the fourth vampire lunged at her again. She drove an elbow back and let its face run into it, smashing his nose. While it was stunned she plunged the stake into its heart. Its ashes were still falling as Kendra ran towards Faith.  
  
The third vamp was about to hit Faith again when it sensed Kendra coming up behind it and was turning to face her, just in time to take her heavy boot in the center of his chest. He flew several feet back and Kendra was already following through, spinning into a roundhouse kick aimed at the vampire holding Faith. The brunette saw it coming and managed to duck her head just enough for Kendra's heel to connect with the side of the vamp's head and she stumbled as the creature released her.  
  
"That was cool!" Faith said, with a grin. She was turning to face her former captor when Kendra grabbed her by the wrist. Faith saw Kendra slap a stake into her hand, closing Faith's fingers around the weapon.  
  
Then Kendra had to focus her attention on the third vampire again.  
  
  
  
****  
  
  
  
Standing on the rooftop of a three-story building a couple of blocks away, Spike was watching the fight taking place in the construction site. He brought his cigarette to his lips and winced as he exhaled.  
  
"Now that had to hurt," he said. He shook his head slightly. "Where did Kakistos find this lot of Nancy Boys?"  
  
Spike turned his head to look over his shoulder. "'ey, mate? Are you gonna hide in the shadows all night?"  
  
Mr. Trick stepped out from around the stairwell nook.  
  
"How did you know I was there?" the vampire in the suit asked.  
  
Spike turned to face him as the battle continued behind him. "How long have you been a vampire? Thirty . . . forty years?"  
  
"What does that have to do with anything?" Trick asked.  
  
"Well, if you live long enough you start to get a better feel for your surroundings. Sometimes sense when someone is sneaking about. Say . . . spying on one even."  
  
Taking a drag on his cigarette, Spike turned back to continue watching the fight. "Your boys aren't really doing too well, are they? Is that you're girl?" He smiled, expelling the smoke from his nostrils. "She is a *lively* bird, that one is. She's got that kind of manic streak you just have to admire."  
  
"Interesting," Trick said, as we walked up to stand beside the blonde vampire.  
  
"And what's that?"  
  
Trick nodded down at the fight, where the Slayers were down to only three vampires now. "There's the target but here you are, up here. Why aren't you down there giving a hand?"  
  
Spike regarded him calmly. "Probably the same reason you're up here, mate. In case your vision isn't too great, there happens to be *two* Slayers down there. I've tangled with two Slayers at once before, m'self. Not an altogether pleasant experience."  
  
"Maybe I just don't trust you," Trick replied.  
  
Spike smiled. "Then you're not as dumb as I first pegged you."  
  
Trick let the insult slide. "That still doesn't explain what you're doing up here. I thought the arrangement was that you and your people would patrol the other side of town while mine take this area?"  
  
"And my boys *are* on the other side of town on the hunt. But I prefer making my own path. I don't go in for assignments much."  
  
"I guess my boys were just *lucky* that they found the Slayers first," Trick said, with pleasant sarcasm.  
  
"Yeah," Spike agreed. "It's a good thing they're not going to be around to report their failure to Kakistos. I'd wager he's not the sort of chap to be happy with letting your girl get away."  
  
Trick looked down at the fight, which wasn't going to last much longer, he noted as another vampire was dusted. "Well, the big guy likes to follow that 'do or die trying' tradition. Doesn't leave much room for retreat, I'll tell you that."  
  
"Tradition," Spike smirked. "The older buggers really get on my nerves sometimes."  
  
Trick nodded. "It's fortunate that there's not many left then, ain't it?"  
  
Spike regarded the sharp-dressed vampire for a few appraising seconds. Neither one of them took notice as silence fell down in the construction site. Spike pulled out his pack of cigarettes and offered it to Trick.  
  
"Smoke?"  
  
"Never touch the stuff," Trick said. "It'll kill you."  
  
Spike chuckled.  
  
  
  
****  
  
  
  
Faith had the last vampire up against the wall and was repeatedly punching it in the face, bouncing its head so hard with each blow that a crack had started to form in the wall behind it. Finally, she drove the stake into its chest, leaving it there to turn into dust along with the creature. She turned away and began to dust the dirt off her clothes, when she looked up and saw Kendra staring at her, arms crossed.  
  
"What?" Faith asked.  
  
"Is dat how yer Watcher taught you to slay vumpires?" Kendra's voice was laced with disapproval.  
  
"What are you talking about? I was getting the job done."  
  
"Ye almost got y'self killed."  
  
Faith scoffed. "By these guys? Not likely. I've handled twice as many, who were a lot tougher, than these guys before."  
  
"When?" Kendra challenged.  
  
Faith seemed about to respond but stopped. Kendra noted the uncertainty, --or anxiety-- Kendra couldn't tell for sure, in the brunette's eyes. Then Faith composed herself.  
  
"Hey, they're dead and we're still alive so you can bitch about my slaying techniques, so we must have done something right. Right?"  
  
Kendra just stood there silently, regarding the other Slayer for a long moment. She let her arms fall to her sides. "I tink we've had enough patrolling for one night. We should report dis to Mr. Giles."  
  
"We barely started," Faith said.  
  
"We now know dat de vumpires are in de area. And dere is information dat needs to be researched."  
  
Faith frowned at her. "What information? Did you interrogate one of them when I wasn't looking?"  
  
"I could have been reading a book and ye wouldn't've noticed!" Kendra countered.  
  
"Meow!" Faith chuckled. "So you can hit below the belt when you feel like it. You know, I might have been wrong about you, Ken."  
  
Kendra didn't respond to this.  
  
"What say you and me scout the area and see if we can find these creeps' hideout?" Faith continued. "You said so yourself, that they must be close by. We can take care of this tonight and be done with it."  
  
Kendra's voice was firm. "We are going to de Watcher. We're not going t'be reckless."  
  
Faith didn't say anything for a moment. "Okay, maybe I was only a little wrong about you. You're still a tight-ass." Then she smiled. "But at least there's some hope for you."  
  
Kendra glared at her. "Let's go."  
  
"Hey, I'm sure you and Mr. Watcher can handle the book thing." Faith reached into the pocket of her leather pants and pulled out a slip of paper. Kendra realized it was the piece of paper that boy Scott had given her earlier that day.  
  
"But the night is still young for those of us who can talk to boys. So . . . I'll see ya!"  
  
  
  
End of Part Eight  
  
  
  
*******  
  
  
  
FIRST THREAD: Part Nine  
  
  
  
  
  
  
He didn't know why he had come to the Bronze tonight. Cordelia had an appointment with her hairdresser, Oz and Willow had a date, and . . . .  
  
Well, that didn't leave anybody else, Xander thought, as he stepped out of the Bronze. It was pretty dead in there anyway. Even if everybody inside seemed to be having a great time, the dance floor full of happy couples, and cheery gossipy conversations going on at every table. Okay, he thought, so maybe it was him.  
  
He just wasn't in the partying mood right now. And he hated going out alone anyway, which brought the question up again, why did he come here? He just didn't feel like staying in tonight, for some reason.  
  
Both of the Slayers were out patrolling the Sunset Ridge District right now. That was practically on the other side of town. Maybe he should see what Giles was up to? More than likely he was at home waiting for Kendra to return. Though he tried not to show it, Xander --and he was sure Willow noticed it too-- could tell Giles seemed to be extra protective of Kendra. Not that he hadn't been overprotective of Buffy as well, it's just he knew Buffy better. Had known, he corrected himself. Knew what Buffy had been capable of. It still must not have been easy to let his Slayer go out alone at night.  
  
But Kendra wasn't alone tonight. Faith was with her.  
  
The new Slayer was certainly something. So alive and full of energy. She reminded him a little of Buffy when they had first met her. Before everything that had happened to her; the Master having killed her for a couple of minutes and especially after Angel turned evil. During those last few months, Buffy had lost that certain glow she seemed to always have. Even her experience with the Master hadn't taken that away. She really did love Angel that much, he thought. Him going bad had nearly killed Buffy all by itself. Drusilla just finished the job for him.  
  
As Xander neared the corner of the building, he kicked a small wooden crate in anger. Why had things turned out the way they did? He had lost count of how many times he had asked himself that question. Buffy wasn't supposed to die. Sure he and Willow, even Buffy had said so herself, knew that Slayers usually didn't live long lives, but it still never really hit them that she could be taken away from them so easily.  
  
Although he was ashamed to admit it, he sometimes wished that Buffy had lived and Kendra had been the one to die. And it made him feel worse now because he did consider Kendra a good friend. Sure she kept to herself and never really confided in anyone but Giles, if even her Watcher, but there was still just an ordinary young person under that Slayer exterior. Hell, if Cordelia could see it than it must be true, he thought. But it just wasn't the same. Would never be the same.  
  
Kendra wasn't Buffy.  
  
He knew it was unfair to keep comparing Kendra to Buffy, but he just couldn't stop himself.  
  
Xander raised his head, from looking at the ground, as he was turning the corner and realized he was heading the wrong way. Giles' apartment was the other way. He turned away from the alley and started in that direction when something grabbed him by the back of his jacket. Something very strong.  
  
Oh, shit, he thought, as he heard the vampire growl while it yanked him into the alley. He was thrown against the wall and felt the air rush out of his lungs and bright spots danced across his vision. He slid to the ground and looked up as the creature approached him. It was a female vampire with long black hair.  
  
Oh, she looks kind of attractive, he thought, then shook his head. What the hell was he thinking?! She was trying to eat him! And him without any protection. A stake or a cross, that is. He shook his head again. Great, he was about to die and he was still making with the jokes. At least he had no breath to say it out loud. Wouldn't want to go out sounding like a total spaz. Not that he was about to go down without a fight.  
  
The vamp reached down and pulled him to his feet. He used the momentum to swing a punch at her face. He was slightly surprised when his fist connected and snapped the creature's head back with a satisfying impact, sending her staggering back as it released him and Xander stumbled himself. He managed to stay on his feet and regained his balance only to be rocked by the vampire's backhand, that sent him flying back against the wall.  
  
A good thing he hadn't caught his breath or else it would have been knocked out of him again, he thought, as he fell back to the ground.  
  
"Just my luck," he wheezed out. "Two Slayers in town and never one around when you need her."  
  
He was on his hands and knees trying to push himself up when he saw the vampire coming for him out of the corner of his eye, but he couldn't make himself move any faster.  
  
"I love playing with my food," she said.  
  
Before Xander could use any of the whitty remarks that sprung to mind from that statement, another voice filled the alley.  
  
"Sorry, babe," it was a female voice, "but you're really not his type-- well, actually you are, but you still can't have him."  
  
The vampire whirled on the newcomer but before it could attack, Xander heard several punches and kicks connecting loudly, then, a few seconds later, the comforting sound the vamps made when they turned to dust.  
  
He managed to sit back on his knees with a groan. That definitely wasn't Kendra, he thought. But what was Faith doing here? he wondered. Wasn't she supposed to be with Kendra? Not that he was complaining. "I take back what I said. Slayer timing is--"  
  
He looked up and his words died in his mouth. His jaw fell and his eyes widened.  
  
"Are you okay, Xander?" his savior asked, as she stepped closer to him.  
  
She reached a hand down to him to help him up. Xander just glanced at the hand numbly then looked up at her face again.  
  
"Xand?" she said.  
  
He moved his mouth trying to make his voice work.  
  
"Buffy?" he was finally able to force out.  
  
"Xander?" She frowned at him.  
  
He shot to his feet, ignoring the offered hand, and threw his arms around her. Held her tight. She was real!  
  
"Of course I'm real," she said, sounding puzzled.  
  
He must have said it out loud. But he didn't care. She was here! He didn't know how this could be, but he could feel her, smell her--  
  
He suddenly pulled away, holding her at arms' length, getting a closer look at her.  
  
"Xander, are you sure you're okay?" she asked, concern in her voice.  
  
But he didn't hear her. He suddenly brought his hand up to her face, rubbing his fingertips against her forehead a little roughly.  
  
"Hey!" she protested. "What are you--"  
  
But he cut her off when he slapped his hands against her cheeks and lifted her upper lip with his thumbs, looking at her teeth. She shook her head out of his hands and grimaced, making a few spitting sounds.  
  
"Urgh!" she exclaimed. "That was--"  
  
But she was cut off again when he pulled her in close and pressed the side of his head against her chest.  
  
"Xander!"  
  
But he was listening to something else. A heartbeat! She had a heartbeat!  
  
The sound of Buffy's knuckles cracking as she closed her hand into a fist barely registered in his brain.  
  
"Xander, I don't care if you are suffering from a concussion, if you don't--"  
  
But she stopped when he stood up straight again and shouted, "You're alive!"  
  
Buffy frowned at him again. "Huh? What--"  
  
"I don't believe it!" he exclaimed. "This can't be happening!"  
  
Buffy opened her mouth again.  
  
"But you're really here!"  
  
"Xander, I think I better take you home," she said.  
  
"Home," he repeated, numbly.  
  
"Or the hospital."  
  
"Hospital," he echoed. He shook his head. "No! Home-- I mean, I need to Giles you to take!"  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"Uh, I need to take you to Giles!" he said, grabbing her hand. She was holding the stake she had used to slay the vampire in that hand.  
  
"Wait!" she said, as he started to pull her after him. "I left my jacket inside." When he didn't let go of her hand, she jerked it free from his grip.  
  
"What?" he said. "I was just in there, you weren't--"  
  
But she was hurrying around the corner heading back towards the Bronze.  
  
"Buffy, wait!"  
  
Xander ran after her. He rounded the corner and--  
  
Stopped in his tracks.  
  
"Buffy?"  
  
He looked up and down the alley. It was more than a hundred feet to the entrance of the Bronze and he had only been a few steps behind her. But he didn't see her anywhere.  
  
"Buffy!?"  
  
There was no one else out there except for him.  
  
"No. This can't be happening," he said, softly. He didn't just imagine this, he insisted. She was just in his arms, he had been holding her just a few seconds ago.  
  
Feeling a little dizzy, Xander brought his hand up to his forehead and hit himself with a piece of wood. He looked at his hand and saw he was holding the stake she had used to save him with. Or had she? he wondered. He did get knocked around pretty hard. Was it possible that he imagined the whole thing in a concussion induced haze?  
  
And slay a vampire all by himself? he reasoned. Not bloody likely, as Giles would say.  
  
Xander tightened his grip around the stake, searching the alley again.  
  
"BUFFY!!"  
  
  
  
End of Part Nine  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
*****A CHANGE OF SCENERY*****  
  
  
SECOND THREAD: Part Ten  
  
  
  
  
  
  
"Giles, I'm telling you, I saw her!"  
  
Giles stepped out from behind the check-out counter, carrying a couple of old tomes, and Xander stayed close behind the librarian as he headed for the book cage. It was still a few minutes before the first bell and they were the only two in the library right now. But then the likelihood that any of the students of Sunnydale High would actually walk in anytime during the rest of the day was fairly unlikely.  
  
"Xander, are you, uh, absolutely positive of what you saw?" Giles asked. "I mean, with everything that's happened it's very likely your mind may have altered your perception into seeing something you wanted to see."  
  
"Giles," Xander said, slightly offended. "I'm not some schlup who cries wolf. Okay? And when I tell you that I saw her, then you can bet your tweed boxers I saw her."  
  
Giles looked over his shoulder to glare at Xander for a couple of seconds then placed the old books on one of the shelves. As he stepped out of the book cage, a voice asked, "Saw who?"  
  
Xander and Giles had not heard anyone enter the library and faced the new arrival as she walked towards them.  
  
"Oh, uh, Xander said he might have--"  
  
"No, not might have!" Xander cut him off. "I *did* actually see her!"  
  
"Okay, who *did* you actually see?"  
  
Buffy threw her bag on the study table and let herself drop a little tiredly into one of the chairs. Giles noticed this right away. She was dressed for school but she looked a bit weary.  
  
"Are you all right?" he asked. "Did you run into any problems last night?"  
  
Buffy scoffed. "Did I." Then she looked at Xander, narrowing her eyes slightly. "And what happened to you last night? You just took off."  
  
Xander just frowned at her, not saying anything for several seconds. "What do you mean?"  
  
"You were acting all wiggy, I got worried when I couldn't find you."  
  
"Buff, what are you talking about? We all left the library at the same time yesterday."  
  
"Not here," she said. "At the Bronze." She saw the confusion on his face. "Last night? You were getting your ass handed to you by that vamp? Ringing any bells?"  
  
Xander shook his head. "Not even a ding." He exchanged a look with Giles.  
  
"You're saying you saw Xander being attacked by a vampire last night?" Giles asked her.  
  
"I saved him," Buffy told him. She looked at Xander again. "Oh, Xander, please! You don't have to thank me! You would have done the same for me! You know how I hate when you make such a big deal about something as trivial as saving your life."  
  
She saw the expressions on Xander and Giles' faces. She let her head fall on her open palm and rubbed her forehead. "Oh, god. I'm sorry. I didn't get much sleep last night."  
  
"What happened?" Giles asked.  
  
"Well, after I saved Xander," she saw Xander give her that 'what are you talking about?' look again. "Uh, anyway . . . after I slayed that one vamp I tried to patrol, but it turns out the cops have been tailing me."  
  
"What?" Giles said, in surprised.  
  
"Yeah. You know that one cop, uh, Detective Stein?"  
  
"The one who was investigating the deputy mayor's murder."  
  
"That's him. I was patrolling my second cemetery when I noticed the same parked car from the first cemetery I patrolled. Luckily I hadn't slain anything or I don't know how I would have explained it." Buffy shook her head. "I tried to lose him, but it was like he always seemed to know where I would be. He would just show up. He knew I had seen him, he didn't try very hard to stay out of sight, but he never approached me. I couldn't exactly patrol under those conditions. I finally had to hide out at Willow's for the night."  
  
"Like he knew where you would be?" Giles said, thoughtfully.  
  
"Like someone was feeding him my usual patrol patterns," Buffy said, hintingly raising her eyebrows.  
  
"Someone like the good Mayor Wilkins," Giles finished her thought.  
  
"And I wonder who could possibly have the Mayor's ear?" Xander offered, laced with sarcasm.  
  
"Faith," Giles said.  
  
"Faith," Buffy said.  
  
"All the judges agree, then," Xander said.  
  
"But why the sudden interest in the deputy mayor's murder again?" Giles wondered. "The attention to the case seemed to fade only a couple of days after the fact."  
  
"Despite the Mayor's passionate speech on TV not to rest until the killer was brought to justice." Xander added. "Like the hounds were called off while the trail was still warm," He saw Buffy glaring at him. "Uh, I mean, not that you're bad at covering your tracks." He realized how that sounded and said quickly, "No, I mean, not that you had any tracks to cover, since you weren't the one who murdered the deputy mayor, it's just that . . . . . Well, this being the Sunnydale Police, we're talking about cops who have problems putting two and two together and coming up with three with one left over. But this isn't exactly the first time that they tried to pin a murder on you, Buff. Okay, so seeing you standing over Kendra's body did make them jump to the wrong conclusions but--"  
  
Now Giles was glaring at him, too.  
  
"Okay," Xander said. "That's about it for me."  
  
"Thank you," Giles said.  
  
"And I don't think it was just coincidence that the case lost steam right around the same time we all figured Faith jumped into the Mayor's camp," Buffy said.  
  
"Well, if you just added a rogue Slayer to the payroll," Xander said, "It would be pretty hard putting her to good use if she was, say, oh . . . arrested for murdering your deputy mayor."  
  
"He's protecting her from prosecution."  
  
"But if the police had enough evidence on Buffy, surely they would have come for her by now," Giles said.  
  
"Then why are they turning on the heat if they can't touch her?" Xander asked.  
  
"They could be trying to shake you up, Buffy," Giles suggested. "Or catch you in the act of--"  
  
"Of what?" Buffy asked. "Slaying? They can't exactly arrest me for that, Giles."  
  
Xander nodded. "The advantages of hunting vampires. No pesky bodies to dump."  
  
Buffy shot him another look.  
  
Giles removed his glasses. "Well, uh, maybe they're trying to keep you off balance? Or draw your attention away from something else. The Mayor does have this `Ascension' planned."  
  
"But if Faith spilled the right beans, then that's not until graduation day," Buffy said. "Which is still almost three months away. That leaves quite a lot of free time to kill." She frowned at her choice of words. "Literally."  
  
"But I assume this Ascension would also need a great deal of planning."  
  
"So the Mayor still has a lot of legwork to do before the big day." Xander offered.  
  
Giles nodded in agreement. "They may be trying to draw your attention elsewhere so they can focus on those preparations."  
  
"Well, it sure worked last night," Buffy admitted. "If they had something they needed to take care of, I certainly wasn't in their way."  
  
"But what could they have been doing?" Giles polished the lens of his glasses with a handkerchief as he pondered this. "It must have been something out in the open if they were worried you might--"  
  
Giles stopped and his eyes filled with realization. And, Buffy noted, something resembling dread.  
  
"Giles, what is it?" Buffy asked, becoming concerned.  
  
The former Watcher glanced at Xander. "I'm beginning to suspect that you weren't mistaken after all, Xander."  
  
Xander gave him an exasperated look. "As if there was any doubt!"  
  
Buffy looked back and forth between the two of them. "What? What are you two talking about?"  
  
Giles and Xander exchanged another look. They seemed a little reluctant to say anything to her.  
  
"Will one of you talk to me?" she demanded.  
  
Giles put his glasses back on. "Uh, Buffy . . . why haven't you told your mother about Faith?"  
  
This caught Buffy completely off guard and she opened her mouth but couldn't say anything. She closed it again looking down at the table. She met his eyes again. "How did you know Mom didn't know about Faith?"  
  
Xander spoke up before Giles could answer, his tone sharp. "Well, seeing as how I saw your mom giving Faith a ride last night and not trying to run her down, I'm thinking *someone* forgot to post a note on the refrigerator door."  
  
Buffy's heart leapt into her throat. "Oh, god," she said, softly. She shot up from her chair and was turning to run to Giles' office.  
  
"It's okay, Buffy," Xander said, stopping her. "Your mom's all right. I stopped by your house. She was fine and Faith wasn't there. I don't know where she dropped Faith off and I couldn't really probe your mother about it."  
  
Buffy shot him a look.  
  
Xander quickly said, "Uh, I mean, ask her a lot of questions without opening a big can of worms on why her daughter wouldn't inform her how a certain Slayer joined the Dark Side."  
  
Buffy lowered her head again, chastised. She slowly returned to her chair and sat down again. "Thank you, Xander. For looking after my mom. I owe you."  
  
Xander's expression softened and he nodded sitting down on the edge of the table.  
  
"But why haven't you told your mother about Faith?" Giles asked again. "If Faith planned to take revenge on you, last night, she could have easily struck at--"  
  
"I know!" Buffy cut him out, her voice cracking slightly. She was fighting back the tears that had suddenly filled her eyes. "God, Giles, do you think I don't know what Faith is capable of? You have no idea the images that went through my mind when Xander told me Faith was with Mom!"  
  
She was clutching the armrests of her chair tightly, trying to keep it together. This was not the time to lose it, she told herself. But it just seemed as if everything was just happening so fast for her to keep up. She was getting hit from every direction at once. First, barely a month ago, she and Faith had been fighting their way through a bunch of vampires in a dark alley when someone --a human-- appeared out of the shadows and, thinking it was another vampire, Faith had staked him. Buffy could only watch him die, unable to do anything for him.  
  
The next day, Buffy had gone to Faith to see how they were going to deal with this. Turned out Faith had took it upon herself to take care of the situation her own way. By dumping the body and pretending it never happened, claiming she didn't care that it was a human being she had killed. Then things went from worse to completely worse when the body was discovered a day later and turned out to be that of Deputy Mayor Allan Finch. It was bad enough that he had been the right-hand man to Mayor Wilkins, but then they discovered that the very same mayor turned out to be the number one evil in Sunnydale.  
  
And just when it seemed like they were helping Faith deal with what she had done, they find out she had secretly joined forces with the Mayor. And how they discovered this hadn't exactly been easy either. Not only did Angel pretend to lose his soul again to gain Faith and Mayor Wilkins' trust, but he had to treat Buffy as his demon, Angelus, would have just as he had tormented her last year. Which had struck too close to home for Buffy. And on top of that she had to pretend to be chained up as she watched Angel and Faith kiss and practically fondle each other right in front of her. And there was no telling what Angel had done with Faith when Buffy hadn't been around, she thought. Stop it, she told herself. Nothing like "that" happened. Angel wouldn't have let it. But it was hard convincing herself of that. So hard, in fact, that after they tricked Faith into revealing what she knew about the Ascension, Buffy had gone to Angel and asked him for a little "break."  
  
It had nearly been a week already since she last saw him. She just needed to put some time between herself and seeing him evil again, even if it had only been a ruse, which Buffy herself had asked him to do. And just when they had been trying to rebuild their relationship from where they had been forced to leave off when he had lost his soul over a year ago.  
  
Add to all that the Mayor somehow making himself unkillable and the fact they had no clue what this Ascension of his was, and it wasn't exactly the best of times in Sunnydale.  
  
Buffy was brought out of her thoughts when the armrest under her right hand suddenly broke off from her chair. She stood up, startled, and dropped the armrest to the floor then brought her hand up to her forehead, closing her eyes.  
  
"I'm sorry, Buffy," Giles began, but Buffy shook her head.  
  
"It's just--" She took a moment to compose herself and finally opened her eyes. "When Mom first met Faith, she was just so in love with the idea of there being another Slayer around to help me. But I screwed up by telling her exactly how a new Slayer was called."  
  
She saw the look of surprise on Giles and Xander's faces and had to look away.  
  
"You told her you died," Giles stated, solemnly.  
  
Buffy nodded even though he hadn't phrased it as a question. "And she really liked Faith. And I know Faith liked her, too. And when Faith went bad . . ." She let herself trail off.  
  
"I just didn't know how to tell her, uh . . . ."  
  
Xander jumped in. "How the only other Slayer in the world is now your arch enemy?" His tone was understanding.  
  
Buffy nodded again, then looked at her former Watcher with pleading eyes. "I never thought she would come after my mother, Giles. You have to believe that."  
  
He regarded her for just a second and nodded. "I believe that, Buffy," he said, gently. "But you must tell her."  
  
"I know," Buffy said, firmly. "Tonight. She'll be at the art gallery all day. She's pretty much safe there with other people around. I don't think even Faith is crazy enough to try something there."  
  
"But telling your mom Faith is evil doesn't exactly keep her safe from Faith," Xander said, pointing out the hard truth. "Faith doesn't turn to dust in the daylight and she can pretty much kick in the door to any house and just walk right in."  
  
"I know." Buffy's voice suddenly became very calm. "I'll take care of that."  
  
Giles didn't like the resolved look that came over her expression. In all the time he had know this young woman he had only seen her like this a few times, and he tried very hard *not* to think of those times.  
  
He tried to keep the worry out of his voice when he asked, "H-how do you plan on doing that?"  
  
"By doing the only thing I can do," Buffy replied.  
  
"Which is?"  
  
"Kill her."  
  
  
  
****  
  
  
  
Willow opened her locker and grabbed her text book for first period. She swung her yellow "smiling face" backpack around on her shoulder and unzipped it quickly shoving her book into it. Buffy had overslept --not that Willow blamed her considering the night she had-- and as a result they were running a little late. When they reached the school she had told Buffy she would grab their books for their first class while Buffy checked in with Giles. But she needed to hurry. She still needed to get into Buffy's locker. Good thing her locker was right next to hers, she thought.  
  
So intent was she in her task, that when Willow slammed her locker door closed to reveal Anya standing right next to her, the redhead nearly jumped out of her skin. This caused her backpack to slip off her shoulder and fall to the floor spilling out her text book as well as a couple of pens, a folder, and a spiral notebook.  
  
"Willow," Anya said.  
  
Trying to catch her breath, Willow looked down at the mess her stuff made at her feet then glared at the former demon. "What do *you* want?"  
  
Anya narrowed her eyebrows slightly. "You're still sore with me," she stated.  
  
"Me? Sore?" Willow said, dripping with sarcasm. "Now what possible reason could I be sore at you about?" She made a show of tilting her head, looking up at the ceiling as she rubbed her chin thoughtfully. "Ohhhhhhhh . . . let me think. Hmmmmm." Her eyes brightened. "Oh! Could it be that little incident where you tricked me into helping you do that spell to try to get your demony powers back but instead accidentally summoned my vampire twin from that alternate reality? Because I'm seriously doubting that!"  
  
"That's sarcasm, isn't it?" Anya asked.  
  
"Gee, what gave it away?" Willow reached down and picked up her pack trying to scoop up a notebook which was hanging halfway out of it, but it fell all the way out. She sighed loudly and stood up straight again. "What, you, who used to be an immortal demon, have never heard sarcasm before?"  
  
"Of course I have," Anya said, importantly. "Just . . . never directed at me."  
  
"Well, I'd get used to it if I were you."  
  
"But all that happened almost three weeks ago. Shouldn't you be over it by now?"  
  
"Well, the funny thing with humans, we tend to hold grudges when someone causes trouble that can kill her and her friends." Willow smiled sarcastically. "Welcome to the human race. Bye."  
  
Willow knelt down and started picking her stuff up. Anya just watched her for several seconds, but Willow seemed oblivious to her.  
  
"Well?" Anya finally said.  
  
With an impatient sigh, Willow looked up at her. "Well, what?"  
  
"Aren't you curious as to why I came to see you?"  
  
"Oh." Willow offered her a smile and started to nod. Then the smile suddenly disappeared. "No." She continued packing her stuff into her backpack.  
  
Much to the aggravation of Willow's nerves, Anya kneeled down next to her.  
  
"I was just wondering if you had sensed anything . . ." Anya shrugged, unable to describe it. "I don't know. Weird?"  
  
"Weird? Weird how?" Willow asked, finding herself interested despite her feelings toward the ex-demon.  
  
"I'm not sure. But something's not right."  
  
"What do you mean?" Then Willow had another thought. "And how is it that you can sense anything? I thought you lost all your powers when your necklace was destroyed?"  
  
Anya seemed a little offended. "Hey, I'm not completely inept. My necklace may have been the source of my power but I've forgotten more about magic than you can possibly hope to ever learn."  
  
Willow was taken aback. Really hit a sore spot, she thought, and couldn't help but feel a little sympathetic towards the now young mortal woman. But only a little.  
  
"It could be just me but I don't think insulting people when you're asking them for help is the best way of getting their help."  
  
"Well, you've been insulting to me for the two minutes I've just been standing here," Anya said.  
  
"That's different," Willow countered. "I've earned that right."  
  
"Oh, so if I let you be mean to me some more than I'll have the right to be mean back to you?"  
  
Willow started to open her mouth, then shook her head. This was going no where. "When did you start feeling this weird sensation?"  
  
"Ever since I had this dr--" Anya stopped. She seemed to reconsider what she was about to say. "I mean . . . ever since my *reluctant* participation in that ritual to send that vampire slut back to her world--"  
  
"Hey!" Willow interjected. "That vampire slut was me!" She realized what she just said. "Uh, I mean . . . that's what I would have been if I had been turned into a vamp--" she stopped again. "No, I mean, I doubt I really would have turned out that way. I mean how reliable can alternate realities be, anyway?"  
  
Not missing a beat, Anya said, "Oh, alternate realities are just the results of something --sometimes even the tiniest things-- happening just slightly different than they happened in this reality. For instance--"  
  
"Getting off the subject here," Willow warned.  
  
"Well, you started it."  
  
"I did not!"  
  
"Yes, you did."  
  
"No, I didn't!"  
  
"I just mentioned that vampire slut and you lost it," Anya said, nonchalantly.  
  
"She's not a slut!"  
  
Willow was about to say more then saw the way Anya was looking at her with slightly raised eyebrows. She sighed. "What were you saying about the ritual?"  
  
"Well," Anya continued, "ever since, I've just been sensing this strange . . ." She narrowed her eyebrows in concentration. "Gods," she said, in frustration. "If I had my powers I could just show you."  
  
"Show me what?"  
  
As if it was of no great importance, Anya said, "The universe."  
  
"The . . . universe?" Willow asked. "As in THE universe? `The Final Frontier,' `Mankind's last, best hope for --' oh, wait, that one wasn't--"  
  
"Don't be silly."  
  
"But you just said--"  
  
"No one can actually see the entire universe." Anya considered her words. "Well, some actually come really close but no one has done it yet."  
  
"Then--"  
  
"What I'm talking about is the universe's signature." She noticed the confused look on Willow's face. "The universe has a certain pattern in it's energy flow." Anya brightened. "Oh, that's really good! I like that. Yes, the energy flow of the universe seems to be experiencing some kind of disturbance. See, whenever I granted a wish the universe would fluctuate in order to adjust to any changes the wish created." She smiled slyly. "You should have seen the color scheme that was created when I granted Cordelia's wish! I'm telling you for such a simple wish it probably had the greatest effect on the universe than any I've ever--"  
  
"Cordelia's wish?" Willow asked, even more confused.  
  
Anya paused for a second. "Oh, that's right. None of you, not even Cordelia, remembered any of it." She waved her hand dismissively. "That's where that alternate reality came from. No big deal." Then Anya thought about what she just said. "Although, that's ultimately how I lost my powers," she said, bitterly. "So it was actually a very big deal."  
  
Then she noticed the way Willow was staring at her. "But allow me to digress."  
  
"By all means," Willow agreed.  
  
"Anyway, ever since we returned your evil twin back to her world, the disturbances have been gaining strength. At first, they were hardly noticeable. I just figured there was some powerful demon or magic user close by wreaking havoc or whatnot. But lately, these fluctuations are becoming bigger." A little miffed, she said, "They've been waking me up at night."  
  
"Pity," Willow said, without feeling.  
  
"If I still had my powers I would be able to just take a look at the universe's signature. That would tell me exactly what's going on."  
  
"Well, maybe --and I can't believe I would even consider this-- we can do a spell that will reveal the, uh, universe's signature?" Willow offered.  
  
Anya regarded her seriously for several seconds. Then she literally laughed in Willow's face.  
  
As Anya tried to calm herself down, Willow wiped away a bit of spittle that had hit her cheek and glared at the ex-demon.  
  
"Oh," Anya sighed, a hand on her chest, tears in her eyes. "No human has, nor can ever, see the signature of the universe. Uh, their head would explode! It would just be too much for a puny human to handle. But thank you for offering. I haven't felt this good since . . ."  
  
Her mood seemed to darken a little. Probably remembering the good ol' times when she still had her necklace, Willow figured.  
  
"So, you're saying this is all my fault?" she asked.  
  
Anya seemed to ponder that. "I hadn't thought of that. But I suppose it is really your fault. It was your decision to send your twin back to her reality rather than just stake her and be done with it."  
  
"Well, uh, I just couldn't--" Willow began, then said, "Wait. I don't need to justify myself to you. I mean, if you hadn't tricked me into doing that temporal spell in the first place--"  
  
Anya cut her off. "And since when does any *good* wicca mess with a spell they have no clue what it's for?"  
  
The words hit Willow hard. Defensively, she said, "But you told me it was just a harmless spell."  
  
"And it never occurred to you that I might be --oh, I don't know-- LYING to you?" Willow couldn't think of a response but Anya wasn't finished. "Which it turned out," she gave a mock gasp. "I *was* lying to you!"  
  
Anya smiled, enjoying the effect this was having on Willow. "Hey, this sarcasm is fun to use. I think I'll try it more often. Thank you for showing me how it works."  
  
Defeated, Willow shoved the last notebook back into her bag. Before she could say anything, the school bell rang.  
  
"Damn! I'm late!"  
  
She shot to her feet and yanked the zipper to her backpack closed and swung it onto her shoulder. Anya stood with her. Willow turned and was about to start running.  
  
"Wait!" Anya called. "What about the disturbances I've been feeling?"  
  
"That's really not my problem!" Willow snapped. "You'll just have to make do with less sleep, I guess."  
  
She turned and ran leaving Anya behind. It wasn't until she was rounding the corner that she realized she had forgotten Buffy's books and skidded to a stop.  
  
"Damn!"  
  
Storming off just didn't have the same impact when you had to go back.  
  
  
  
****  
  
  
  
No one said anything for a long moment.  
  
Buffy's expression remained calmly stoic as Giles and Xander looked at her with increasing worry.  
  
"Uh, Buffy," Giles began, removing his glasses. "We-we shouldn't rush into anything. We don't know why Faith was with your mother."  
  
"Giles, she's sending me a message!" Buffy declared. "She's telling me that she can get to my mother any time she wants to. Well, I'm not going to let that happen. I'm gonna stop her for good!"  
  
Buffy was practically boiling with rage now. Giles took a couple of steps closer to her. "Buffy, I understand how you feel, but--"  
  
"You understand?!" Buffy snapped.  
  
Giles didn't flinch for her gaze and a slight edge entered his tone. "Yes. I do indeed."  
  
Some of the anger left Buffy's eyes. She looked away. "I'm sorry. Of course, you do." She took a breath and met his eyes again. "But I am *not* going to make the same mistake I did with Angel. I'm not going to wait for Faith to start killing those I care about before I get the nerve to stop her."  
  
Again, they fell silent. She knew they were all thinking about the same thing. How when Angel lost his soul, around this time last year, he started targeting her friends. Sneaking into their homes and leaving "messages" on their beds letting them know he had been there. It was worse in Giles' case most of all. Her Watcher had fallen in love with the computer science teacher, Jenny Calendar, whom they later found out was actually a gypsy from the same clan who had first cursed Angel with his soul about a hundred years ago. Angel had somehow found out Ms. Calendar was trying to recover the original spell to give him back his soul and, before she could use it, he had killed her. But not satisfied with just simply killing her, Angel had left her in Giles' home, in his bed, and had fixed the place up as if she had been waiting for him with a romantic evening planned.  
  
"Buffy, killing Faith is not the answer," Giles finally said.  
  
"If you ask me, it's a good start, " replied Buffy.  
  
"Absolutely not!" a clipped British voice announced.  
  
"Man, we really need to put a chime on that door," Xander commented as they turned to look at the new arrival.  
  
"How much did you hear?" Giles asked.  
  
Wesley Wyndam-Pryce started walking further into the library from where he had been standing by the double doors. The man, in his mid-twenties, was basically a younger version of Giles. Considering he was supposed to be Giles' replacement as Buffy's Watcher, that wasn't too surprising. And he was every bit as meticulous as Giles had been when Buffy had first met him. But Giles had mellowed somewhat during his time here in Sunnydale. And unlike Wesley who always wore his dark tweed suit, Giles sometimes ditched the jacket. Even now Giles was sans his tweed jacket and had his shirt sleeves rolled up, a fashion --that did not escape Buffy's attention-- Giles seemed to go with more often ever since the arrival of the new Watcher. Or, to be more precise, she thought, ever since he was fired by the Watcher's Council.  
  
"Fortunately, more than enough," Wesley said, hardly giving Giles a glance. His eyes were on Buffy.  
  
He stopped right in front of Buffy, and since he was also as tall as Giles, she was forced to look up at him.  
  
"I'm afraid I cannot allow you to go after Faith," Wesley declared. "Not in your current emotional state."  
  
Buffy crossed arms. "Well, that might have been a problem if I were asking for your permission, but, lucky me, I wasn't."  
  
But Wesley wasn't about to back down. "Buffy, a Slayer is forbidden to take another human life. You know this!"  
  
"Faith's a Slayer! She's not like other humans!" Buffy countered.  
  
"Nevertheless, I will not allow you to go down the same road she did."  
  
"Why? Because it would look really bad on your resume' to have another Slayer turn murderer while under your supervision?"  
  
This really took the young Watcher off guard and he couldn't respond right away. Buffy realized that had been overly harsh, even to Wesley, but she just couldn't care about that right now.  
  
Finally, he said, "I'm sure Giles can give you more reasons than I can why you can't kill Faith, but as a Slayer it should be more than enough to know that it goes against the Council's wishes." He added, "I'm only looking after your well-being."  
  
Buffy seethed silently for a moment. "Wesley, that was almost sweet of you to say, but I'm more concerned with my mother's well-being. The Council can't protect her from a Slayer, not that they would even give a damn in the first place."  
  
Giles knew what Buffy was referring to. For her eighteenth birthday, the Council had ordered Giles to inject Buffy with a specially created drug that would temporarily rob her of her Slayer strength and abilities. This was to prepare her for the Tento di Cruciamentum. Very literally a test of torment. A right of passage all Slayers, who were fortunate enough to reach their eighteenth birthday, were to face, Giles scoffed inwardly. The powerless Slayer was to be entrapped with a vampire foe of the Council's choosing and must then defeat him in order to pass the test. Success was the only way the Slayer could survive. Giles had gone against the Council's orders when the vampire Buffy was to face had escaped and he confessed everything to her. But the vampire had kidnapped Joyce Summers forcing Buffy to go through with the test, after all, under his own terms.  
  
She did succeed in slaying the vampire and saving her mother, but it had severely strained the relationship between Giles and Buffy. And as a consequence of his actions and "father's" love for his Slayer, the Council declared Giles unfit to be Watcher and fired him.  
  
"I'm the only one who can protect her from Faith," Buffy continued, "Therefore, I get to decide what's the best way to protect her."  
  
"But killing Faith, Buffy, it's--" Giles started to say.  
  
"What you are proposing is wrong!" Wesley interjected, cutting him off. "And if you go through with this the Council will declare you a rogue Slayer as well. Do you really want that?"  
  
Buffy was silent for a few seconds, pinning him with her cold eyes. "The Council can go to hell," she said, slowly.  
  
Wesley flinched back in shock. Even Giles seemed surprised by this.  
  
"Buffy--" Giles started to say.  
  
The bell rang cutting him off. Buffy finally turned her gaze away from Wesley. "Come on, Xander, we're late for class."  
  
She grabbed her bag off the table and headed out of the library in quick strides. Xander glanced at Giles, who gave him a nod, and hurried to catch up with his friend. When the double doors swung shut behind them, Wesley turned to Giles.  
  
"Someone needs to talk to that girl," he said. "She's treading on very dangerous ground."  
  
"She's been treading on dangerous ground for over three years," Giles said, slipping his glasses back on and leaning against the table.  
  
"Well, I'm so glad you're taking this very seriously," Wesley said, with a bit of sarcasm.  
  
Giles just crossed his arms. "And what do you suggest I do?"  
  
"Talk to her!" the young Watcher said, indignantly.  
  
"Because it worked so well just now," Giles replied. He nodded towards the doors Buffy just left through. "I've seen Buffy like this many times. Talking to her now is only going to incite her further. I'll try talking to her again later. Right now we need to give her some time to cool down."  
  
"Do you think that will help?"  
  
Giles just continued to stare at the doors for a few seconds, trying to keep the worry from his expression. Finally, he looked at Wesley. "Absolutely."  
  
  
  
End of Part Ten.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
SECOND THREAD: Part Eleven  
  
  
  
  
  
  
"You wanted to see me, boss?"  
  
"Yes, Faith. Please, have a sit."  
  
Faith closed the door to Mayor Wilkins' office. She crossed the room to the chair in front of his desk. All the window blinds were closed pitting the room in an evening gloom, but the lights on the wall behind the Mayor provided enough light to see her employer clearly. She sat down leaning back and casually crossed one leather clad leg over the other.  
  
"Don't you ever get goosebumps?" he asked.  
  
Faith, who had been determined to keep her expression normal, was completely thrown by the question and frowned. "Huh?" she asked, before she could stop herself. She quickly composed herself and blanked her face again. But Wilkins had seen it, and smiled.  
  
"Sorry," he said. "Sometimes it's hard to remember that such a sweet looking girl is a strong Slayer. I suppose the cold wouldn't bother you as it would most other people."  
  
She noticed his eyes were on her stomach and couldn't help herself by glancing down at her smooth belly, left bare by the cropped dark tank top she was wearing under her black leather jacket. If any other guy had been looking at her like that, Faith would have said they were ogling her, but for some reason she just didn't get that sort of vibe from him. Which was sometimes more creepy than when creeps were staring at her, she thought.  
  
Out of all the men she'd known in her life, none of them had puzzled her more than the Mayor of Sunnydale did. Even with Angel --despite his poor tortured soul and one-track Buffy mind-- she still had a pretty good idea what to expect. But the Mayor was totally in left field.  
  
"How long have you been working for me?" Wilkins asked.  
  
"Uh, a few weeks," Faith replied.  
  
"Four to be precise."  
  
Faith didn't respond to that. Just waited for him to continue.  
  
"And are you happy working here?"  
  
Alarm bells went off in Faith's head, but she kept her expression calm. This was sounding a lot like a "we have to let you go" speech. And if being fired meant what she thought it did . . . .  
  
Faith glanced around the office, trying to make it look casual. The closed blinds. Her sitting down with her back to the doors. Perfect for an ambush. She didn't sit up, but her body was now tense, ready to spring into action. She looked at Wilkins again.  
  
She nodded. "Yeah. The perks are really wicked."  
  
And they really were. No longer did she have to stay in that flea-trap motel. The tight-ass Council hadn't even bothered to spring for something a little more worthy for a Slayer to stay. Of course, now that her cover was blown, she couldn't go back to that place even if she wanted to. But the Mayor was different. Aside from her attempt to take Angel's soul away about a week ago, he hadn't really asked her to do any big jobs yet. And yet, he had set her up in a spacious loft, top floor, great view. Well, great view if you liked looking at the town, she thought. And it came with all the trimmings. Big screen TV, nice expensive furniture, a sound system that really rocked, and even a Playstation. And a bed so comfortable she almost didn't need a guy.  
  
Almost, she thought.  
  
Mayor Wilkins smiled. "That's good. I strongly believe that a happy employee is a productive employee. Have you had breakfast yet?"  
  
Faith just shook her head, waiting for the other shoe to drop.  
  
Wilkins picked up a pink box that was on his desk, opened it and offered it to her. She saw rows of glazed, chocolate, and sprinkled donuts inside. She glanced at him to see him smiling.  
  
"Go on," he urged. "Something to hold you over till breakfast."  
  
Faith couldn't stop herself from frowning slightly. "No, thanks."  
  
Still smiling, Wilkins sighed, disappointedly. "I really wish you would eat a little more. You only have a couple of more years before you stop growing. You need to help your body along as much as possible." He closed the box again.  
  
"So," Faith began. "Why am I here?"  
  
"Ah, yes." Wilkins seemed to lose some of his cheeriness. "The reason why you're here. Now, Faith, before we begin, I just want to assure you that I'm not jumping to any conclusions. I will hear your side before I make any decisions. Okay?"  
  
Now Faith didn't bother to keep the question out of her expression. "What's going on?"  
  
Wilkins didn't answer the question but said. "I received a report last night, on you, that disturbed me a great deal."  
  
He met Faith's eyes as if expecting her to respond. Well, she thought, she wasn't going to make it that easy for him. "Umm, sorry?" was all she said.  
  
Wilkins' tone became just a little more serious. "Faith, this is very serious. You'll do well to treat it as such."  
  
Faith sighed a little impatiently. "Fine."  
  
With a nod, Wilkins continued. "I was told that you went out slaying last night." Faith opened her mouth, but he held up his hand. "Now, you'll get your turn, don't worry. Just listen for right now."  
  
Wilkins stood, straightening his suit jacket, and rounded to the front of his desk. "Now, I know you're a Slayer and certain habits can be hard to break. Especially for a fiery spirited young woman such as yourself." He leaned against the edge of his desk right in front of her. "But I do have, shall we say, an arrangement with a certain element in this town."  
  
"Vampires?" Faith asked, in a bored tone.  
  
Wilkins smiled at her bluntness. "Yes. A working relation. They work for me or they die. Simple, easy to remember. Even for them." He chuckled. "But, unfortunately, there are some vampires who do not accept this. Not a problem. I didn't hire you to keep the rogue element in place, though just knowing I have a Slayer in my employ is very effective in keeping those demons in line as well as the ones who are working for me.  
  
"You see, I allow them . . . feeding grounds, if you will. There are certain neighborhoods they're not allowed to enter, citizens they're not allowed to touch. Like members of the city council, the school board," he met Faith's eyes again, "A certain Slayer you are well acquainted with."  
  
Faith's eyes became cold. He didn't even say Buffy's name and she could feel her anger rising. Wilkins noticed this. "That is, until any of them start interfering with my plans.  
  
"And it looks bad on my part when I've given them these allowances and then have the Slayer *who is* working for me slay two of them while they're trying to hunt." He shook his head, a little disappointed. "Do you see what I'm getting at, Faith?"  
  
Faith didn't say anything for several seconds. Then she simply said, "Yeah."  
  
He waited for her to say more, but Faith remained silent. "Would you like to add to this little story I've just told you?"  
  
Faith was fidgeting with her boot, wiping away an imaginary smudge on the leather. Then she looked up into his eyes again. "No."  
  
Very rarely had Faith seen the Mayor look as serious as he was looking at her now. "Now, think about what you're saying, Faith. Are you sure that's your answer?"  
  
She took a steady breath before answering. "Yeah."  
  
"Okay, if that's the way you want it? You leave me with no choice."  
  
Wilkins rounded his desk and sat down again. Faith unconsciously gripped the armrest of her chair a little tighter, waiting. Well, it was a wild ride while it lasted, she thought.  
  
"But to accept that as your answer." Wilkins burst out laughing.  
  
Faith was stunned and had to stop her jaw from dropping as she watched the strange mayor try to calm himself down. Smiling, he leaned back in his leather chair.  
  
"Oh, boy," he wiped a tear at the corner of his eye. "You really enjoy testing me, don't you? That's what I love about you. You never back down."  
  
Faith shrugged, a little more relaxed. "Just the way I am."  
  
"And don't you dare change, you hear me," he said, with mock firmness.  
  
She couldn't keep the smile completely off her face. "Damn, boss. You really had me going there."  
  
He raised a warning finger. "Ah-ah, watch the language."  
  
"Right."  
  
"Come on , now," Wilkins said. "Do you really think I'd let something like that come between us?"  
  
Faith regarded him for a moment. "But how does the guy in the other room feel about that?"  
  
"Can't put anything past you. Come on in, Stephen," he called towards the door behind her.  
  
Faith looked over her shoulder and saw a lean looking vampire enter the room. He was wearing his vamp face which automatically let her know he was only a few years old, if even that. Not because he couldn't keep his face human, just because he probably thought he looked more intimidating this way. As he stood next to her, he glared down at her, lifting his upper lip to show off his fangs a little. Faith just rolled her eyes.  
  
"So what is to be done with her?" Stephen demanded.  
  
"I was thinking of taking her to the circus that's in LA right now," Wilkins said, pleasantly.  
  
"The circus?" Faith said.  
  
"You don't like the circus?" Wilkins seemed worried by this. "I thought all kids loved the circus."  
  
Faith grimaced. "Those clowns. They just make me want to stake them."  
  
"Well, we can't have that, now, can we?" He seemed to ponder for a moment. "Miniature golf?"  
  
"I think I'm about this close to conquering the motorcycle jump."  
  
They were hardly paying any attention to the vampire anymore, who was looking back and forth between them, becoming enraged.  
  
"You're not going to do anything?" said Stephen. "She killed two of my crew last night!"  
  
Wilkins just shrugged as if it were of no great importance. "I'm sure she had a good reason." Then he looked at Faith. "Faith?"  
  
"God, I really wish I could say I did it just for the hell of it," she seemed disappointed, "but I actually did have a reason for staking those losers."  
  
Wilkins' eyebrows rose with interest. "Which was?"  
  
"Well, it goes back to what you were just saying, about certain people the vamps aren't allowed to feed on."  
  
"We are well aware of the Mayor's `list.' " the vamp interjected.  
  
Faith's gaze became cold as she looked at the new vamp. "If you interrupt me again, I'll stake you right here."  
  
Stephen started to sneer at her, but it faded when he glanced at Wilkins and saw the "you better listen to her" expression on his face. Wisely, he closed his mouth.  
  
Faith continued, her attention back on Wilkins. "Okay, for some reason you don't want me going after Buffy."  
  
Wilkins nodded his head, in a way that said they'd had this conversation many times already. "As I already told you, I have something special planned for her. And she hasn't done anything that has threatened my plans yet, so, for the moment, she isn't a problem."  
  
"Right," Faith said. "So how do you think Buffy would react if her mother was eaten by a couple of stupid vampires last night?" Wilkins perked up in surprised, but Faith went on throwing a glance at Stephen. "And what if she found out those two vamps worked for you?"  
  
"I'd imagine she wouldn't be a very happy camper right now," Wilkins said.  
  
Faith chuckled a scoff. "She'd tear up half the town coming after you. It wouldn't matter to her that you can't be killed, she would probably enjoy cutting you up into as many pieces as she could just to see if you can put yourself back together."  
  
Wilkins was quiet, *his* expression stoic for a change. He just sat there with his elbows on his desk and his fingers steepled.  
  
"Well," he finally said. "I must say . . ." He looked at Stephen. "I am very disappointed with this news."  
  
The vampire lost what little cool he had, and stammered, frightened, "But . . . sir. We didn't know that was the Slayer's mother!"  
  
"Hey!" Faith exclaimed, pissed. "She's not THE Slayer. She's a burnt-out imitation of one."  
  
"Right you are, Faith," the Mayor agreed. He turned to Stephen again. "Everybody knows that Joyce Summers; a very important citizen to this community, I might add, owns the Art Gallery. Just because her daughter has the power to cause trouble for me is no reason to blame her for it." He gave the vampire a scolding look. "Maybe if you young people took the time to appreciate the finer things, such as art, you might have realized that.  
  
"Stephen, I want you to go back to the others and tell them that anyone who feeds on, let alone snacks, on young Summers' family or any of her friends without my permission will be in a heap of trouble."  
  
The vamp just nodded his head nervously. Faith loved the way the Mayor was able to speak in such a cheery manner and still scare the shit out of demons.  
  
Wilkins stood up and moved over to the windows. Not looking at Stephen, he said, "That'll be all. You can go now, Stephen. Thank you for stopping by." He was smiling when he opened the blinds.  
  
When he realized what Wilkins was about to do, the vamp turned and started running to the door he had come in through. But the morning sunlight that blasted into the office still caught him and he growled in pain, leaving behind a cloud of smoke as he slammed the door closed behind him.  
  
Wilkins chuckled as he sat back down at his desk. "So, anything else exciting happen last night?" he asked Faith.  
  
Faith shook her head. "But the night before I thought I saw something."  
  
He noticed the serious expression on her face. "And what's that?"  
  
Faith shifted in her chair, uncrossing her leg and crossing the other over that one. "There was this cop that questioned me right after . . . they found the body."  
  
Wilkins just nodded. He knew immediately which body she was talking about. Although he never asked her about Allan Finch's murder, he assured her that it was all water under the bridge and what was past was forgotten. But Faith still tiptoed around the subject --actually she never brought it up-- but she needed to tell him about this.  
  
"I think he was following me."  
  
Wilkins raised his eyebrows. "Well . . . just when I thought the morning couldn't get any more interesting." He had a thoughtful expression on his face for a few seconds before asking, "And he wasn't following you last night?"  
  
"No. I didn't see anybody following me last night."  
  
"Hmm. I'll have to talk to Bob about this."  
  
"Who's Bob?"  
  
"Oh, the police chief. I need to tell him that one of his detectives seems to be on his own crusade. We can't have that. If there's one thing I will not stand for, is a vigilante."  
  
"What if this guy doesn't back off?" Faith asked.  
  
"I would really hate to use the last resort, Detective Stein is really a fine police officer. Also very dedicated, it seems. I'd really hate to lose him."  
  
He focused his gaze on Faith. "If it comes to that, do you think you can handle it?"  
  
Thrown by the question, she blurted, "Me?" She quickly composed herself. Just three weeks ago, Faith --before Buffy and the others had found her out-- discovered that Willow had been trying to hack into the Mayor's personal files. That time Wilkins had authorized a hit on the young redhead, but he had told Faith he wasn't asking her to do it, not so early in "their" relationship. He'd sent vampires to do it instead, but those guys were never heard from again and Willow was still alive. They both figured Buffy must have saved her and Faith was a little nervous that he would ask her to do it, after all, but by then his files had been deleted and he figured it would look suspicious if there was another attempt on Willow's life while she was trying to access them.  
  
"Is that going to be a problem?" Wilkins asked, a little pointedly.  
  
Faith didn't answer right away. "No," she finally said. "No problem at all."  
  
  
  
******  
  
  
  
"Yes, Joyce Summers, please. This is her daughter. I'll hold."  
  
Buffy started to tap her fingers against the side of the payphone as classical music filled the line. She wasn't sure how long she had waited, but she remembered there were still a few students in the hallway when she had first dialed, now as she looked around the hallway was empty.  
  
The music was cut off. "Buffy?"  
  
At the sound of her mother's voice Buffy's shoulders sagged in relief. Not that she had doubted Xander when he told her she was all right, she just needed to reassure herself.  
  
"Yeah. Hey, uh, hi, Mom," Buffy said.  
  
"Is there something wrong?"  
  
"Uh, no. No. I just didn't get a chance to talk to you after patrol last night. Didn't want you to worry."  
  
"Thanks, honey. I did get your message that you were spending the night at Willow's. Rough night?"  
  
"It . . ." Buffy hesitated, ". . was a little more exciting than usual. But no problems."  
  
"Oh, good."  
  
"Hey, I was wondering what time you were going to be home tonight?" Buffy said. "I thought it might be nice to have dinner. You know, with our schedules being so busy lately . . ."  
  
"I'd like that. In fact I was going to call you later to see if you were free tonight."  
  
"Really? Guess we're thinking on the same wavelength. It would also give us a chance to talk. Something we haven't really had a chance to do lately."  
  
"It wasn't from my lack of being ready to talk." Even though Joyce's tone hadn't changed, Buffy did hear the slight implication there.  
  
"Right," Buffy said, in a softer voice.  
  
"So. . . I'll have dinner ready by six."  
  
"Sure. I'll be home early to help you."  
  
There was a pause on the other end of the line. "Are you sure everything's all right?"  
  
"Yeah." Buffy tried to find something else to say, but then said, "Yeah."  
  
"Okay. I'll see you tonight then. Be careful."  
  
"Sure." Buffy hesitated and the line was disconnected when her mother hung up.  
  
"You too."  
  
Buffy slowly hung up and just stood there staring at the phone.  
  
In a cheery voice, she said, "Oh, by the way, if you happen to see Faith don't go near her because she flipped out and is now evil --can you pass the mash potatoes?"  
  
She shook her head. "Somehow I don't think that would work."  
  
"Buffy!"  
  
She turned and saw Willow hurrying down the hall towards her, a couple of books in her arms. The redhead was slightly out of breath when she reached her.  
  
"Sorry I'm late. Had a little run-in with a demon." She saw the alarmed look on Buffy's face and quickly added, "Uh, I mean, Anya. But I took care of her. Uh, not in the fisticuffs way, you know I'm not violent in the sense of . . . being violent, though I must confess a little guilty pleasure at punching her out that night." She saw the way Buffy was staring at her and decided to hand over her books. "Anyway, here are your books --and why are you out here in the hallway? Now you're late for class, too."  
  
"I had to call my mom."  
  
"Oh." Then Willow took notice of her solemn expression. "Is everything okay?"  
  
Buffy sighed. "I'll tell you about it in class."  
  
As they started to walk down the hall, Willow asked, "But don't we have something else to do in class?"  
  
Buffy looked at her. "Like what?"  
  
"Oh, I don't know, school work maybe?"  
  
Buffy frowned. "Oh. We can do that after we talk."  
  
"Of course," Willow said, shaking her head.  
  
  
  
End of Part Eleven  
  
  
  
  



	4. Parts 12 - 15

  
FIRST THREAD: Part Twelve  
  
  
  
  
  
  
"I don't find that even slightly amusing, Xander," Giles said, a bit angrily.  
  
"Hey, do I look like I'm joking?" Xander countered.  
  
The Watcher regarded the young man for just a moment, taking in his appearance. He was holding the icepack Giles gave him against the left side of his forehead where an abrasive bruise testified to the rough encounter he had with the vampire last night.  
  
"Giles, I'm telling you it was her!"  
  
"Xander," Giles said, in a calmer tone. "I'm sure you think you saw her. You did say this vampire hit you hard. More than likely you must have imagined it when you hit your head."  
  
"Then explain to me, Giles, how I was able to fight off and stake a vampire while I was dreaming and didn't have a stake with me?"  
  
This actually caused the Watcher to pause and he seemed to consider what Xander just said. But he quickly shook his head slightly, closing his eyes. "I don't have time for this right now, Xander. We have bigger problems right now."  
  
Xander couldn't believe what he was hearing. If there was anyone who should be happier to have Buffy back he would have figured it to be Giles. "More important than the fact that Buffy, who has been *dead* for over five months is somehow back from--?!"  
  
"That's enough!" Giles said, in a raised voice.  
  
Surprised, Xander closed his mouth and glared at Giles but the older man would not meet his eyes as he leaned his fists on the surface of the table. He could see the pain Giles was trying to hide and a small part of him understood what he might be going through, but the rest of him was more than a little upset that his friend wouldn't even consider that he might be telling the truth.  
  
"Fine," Xander said, in a low voice. He lowered the ice pack from his head and dropped it on top of the table.  
  
He turned and started out of the library. Giles watched him go but Xander didn't look back. He was almost to the double doors when one of them swung open and Willow stepped inside with Oz. Xander's condition immediately caught their attention.  
  
"Xander!" Willow said.  
  
"You okay, man?" asked Oz.  
  
"I'm fine," Xander replied, brusquely. He didn't even slow down as he swung the other door open and left.  
  
"Wait--" Willow tried to say but the door was already swinging closed behind him. She exchanged a look with Oz.  
  
"That was interesting," Oz said, in his deadpan tone of voice.  
  
They walked over to Giles where he was still leaning on the table.  
  
"Giles, what happened to Xander?" Willow asked.  
  
Giles finally straightened, removing his glasses and seemed to put more attention in polishing the lenses with a handkerchief so he wouldn't have to look directly at them.  
  
"Uh, yes. He was attacked last night. A vampire."  
  
Willow gasped silently. "Is he okay?" She shook her head. "Uh, I mean, I know we just saw him so we know he's okay in the `yay, he's alive!' kinda way. But . . . he seemed a little . . . ."  
  
"Not in the mood for celebrating his not being dead?" Oz suggested. Willow nodded.  
  
"Well, it was, uh, pretty rough for him," Giles began. It seemed as if he was going to say more, but then decided against it. "He's just a little upset." Changing the subject, he continued. "But I'm afraid we do have bigger problems."  
  
"So it's pretty much a normal day, then?" Oz commented.  
  
Giles didn't respond to that. Putting his glasses back on, he said, "There was quite a bit of vampire actitivity last night. Kendra and Faith also ran into a group who I believe are the ones we're looking for."  
  
"That's good," Willow said. Then seeing Giles' expression, "Isn't it?"  
  
"They did slay all of them."  
  
"Oh, well that is good!"  
  
"But their master is still alive."  
  
"Oh," Willow said, crestfallen  
  
"But we know who their master is."  
  
"Oh! Well then that is g--" she stopped and looked back and forth at Oz and Giles. "I'm just going to . . ."  
  
She sat down in one of the chairs and folded her hands in her lap and remained quiet, smiling sweetly.  
  
"So there's a new master guy in town?" Oz said.  
  
"Yes. His name is Kakistos, which is Greek: means `worst of the worst.' He's a very old vampire. So old, in fact, that his hands and feet are cloven."  
  
Oz sat down in a chair beside Willow. "Sounds like an attractive guy."  
  
"Indeed."  
  
"I guess it was lucky for us that Faith arrived when she did," Willow spoke up. "I'd hate to imagine how dangerous it would be for Kendra to have to face this guy by herself."  
  
"Yes," Giles said, with a thoughtful expression. "Or perhaps it was more fortunate for Faith."  
  
Narrowing her eyebrows, Willow asked, "What do you mean?"  
  
Giles began to slowly pace the side of the table. "It's just the way Kendra described the attack. There were four of them and they all went after Faith."  
  
If there was one thing Kendra could be depended on that would be giving very descriptive reports on her patrols, even for uneventful patrols. Buffy had often accused Giles of using more words than necessary for his own lectures and, many times, had her pratically begging him to send her on patrol before he put her to sleep from boredom. It was ironic, Giles thought with a tinge of pain, that he found himself having to resist the urge to hurry Kendra to finish up her reports.  
  
And then there was the way Faith had fought the creatures. Kendra did not believe in recounting events other than the way they actually happened, so she hadn't pulled any punches in her observation of Faith's slaying performance. In fact, she made sure to point out everything the new Slayer did wrong.  
  
Even though Kendra hadn't said so, he was more then confident that. . . .  
  
"It was almost as if they were ignoring her completely. They didn't take notice of Kendra until she joined the fight."  
  
"Do you think they went after Faith for a specific reason?" Oz asked.  
  
"It's seems likely."  
  
"And they also happened to show up about the same time the new Slayer arrives in town?" Willow added.  
  
"It is rather a curious coincidence," Giles agreed.  
  
"Only problem with that . . ." Willow said.  
  
"Nothing ever happens by coincidence here," Oz finished.  
  
"There is that," Giles nodded, his eyebrows etched with concern. "I think I need to have a talk with Faith about this."  
  
"You?!" Willow said, in surprise. From the look he shot her, she said, "Uh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that. I just meant, uh . . . . . . you?!"  
  
"I have some experience with dealing with a Slayer," Giles said, a bit slighted.  
  
"I know," Willow said, apologetically. "It's just . . . . Well, being a Watcher you are an authority figure, even though you're not Faith's Watcher. Don't you think it would be better if Kendra talked to Faith?"  
  
She looked at the expressions on Giles and Oz's faces --although Oz's expression hadn't changed she could tell he was thinking the same thing the Watcher was.  
  
"I know," she agreed. "It's not really a good idea, considering Kendra's lack of people skills experience, but I'm just saying it might be better if Faith heard these questions from another Slayer. Someone she can relate to."  
  
Giles expression softened. "You're right. Of course. I'm just concerned that Kendra may not be able to . . ." He trailed off with a sigh. "Well, if Faith is in trouble, Kendra may accidentally say something that might frighten her off. But I'll contact Faith's Watcher at the retreat, she'll know Faith better than anyone."  
  
Willow nodded in agreement.  
  
  
***  
  
  
None of the occupants in the library noticed the face peering through one of the round windows of the double doors from the hallway. Silently, Kendra took a step away from the doors, her expression stoic. She had heard everything that was said.  
  
She turned her head to the right and saw Cordelia far down the hallway heading towards her in quick strides. Kendra turned and walked away from the library in the opposite direction.  
  
  
***  
  
  
"We'll wait until then to ask Kendra to talk to Faith," Giles continued. "At least then we'll be better prepared. In the meantime you two should hurry to your next classes."  
  
Willow and Oz stood up as Giles started towards his office to make the long distance call when Cordelia stormed into the library.  
  
"All right!" she demanded. "What did you guys do to Xander?"  
  
"What?" Willow said. "Oh! No *we* didn't beat him up! That was--"  
  
"A vampire, I know!" the tall brunette said, impatiently. "He told me that. But he just ditched school and he wouldn't tell me what's going on." She put a hand on her chest. "Me!? He's *supposed* to tell me everything!"  
  
As one, the three teenagers turned to look at Giles who had stopped just a few feet from his office. He took in their expressions. He released a breath. "Oh, dear," he said, softly.  
  
"I really didn't want to bring this up now," he said. "What with all the problems we have. Es-especially this delicate situation Kendra must deal with--"  
  
"Well, she was just out in the hall," Cordelia cut in. "So I guess she's going to handle whatever it was."  
  
Giles blinked twiced as the information sank in. "What? You saw Kendra standing outside, just now?"  
  
Nonchalant, Cordelia said, "You guys didn't see her? She was right at the door. Then she took off in a hurry."  
  
Oz and Willow looked to Giles again, worry evident in Willow's expression, which reflected Giles'.  
  
"Oh, dear," Giles said.  
  
"Will you stop saying that!" Cordelia said.  
  
  
  
*****  
  
  
  
Elsewhere.  
  
"It's here! I knew it was here!"  
  
Spike rushed into the tunnel followed closely by Lucius and a few other vampires. The short vampire --we'll start calling him Bryan, even though Spike doesn't even call him Bryan much less even cared what the vamp's name is-- was standing in the center of the recently dug-out tunnel, holding a long steel pike, looking up at the cave ceiling.  
  
Spike took a look for himself and saw a patch of man-filled stone where the cave rock was chiseled away.  
  
"Well, mate," he glanced at the shor-- Bryan. "I'm sure you're thinking that you just saved yourself from being ever so painfully tortured, right?"  
  
Bryan nodded his head, and grinned. Spike nodded his head in agreement, then the blonde's smile faded instantly. "Well, you're wrong." Bryan's smile also disappeared. "The clock's still tickin' and I don't see it in my hand. So I'd get to work if I were you."  
  
Bryan moved quickly to the wall of the tunnel to begin setting up the scaffold. Spike turned to face the rest of the brood.  
  
"Well, what are you layabouts waiting for? Get to work!"  
  
Lucuis and the others moved past Spike to help with the scaffold and arm themselves with powertools. All except for one vampire still standing in front of Spike. Mr. Trick brushed a smudge of chiseled dust from the sleeve of his suit. He surveyed the tunnel again.  
  
"A little shoddy but exceptional work," Mr. Trick had to raise his voice as the jackhammers roared to life. Spike started heading out of the tunnel and Trick fell into step beside him. "It's nice to see other vampires using the technology the humans created for our own purposes."  
  
"Oh, sod that dribble, already, `ey?" Spike said, as he lit a cigarette. "You just get back to your pals and make sure Big Ugly doesn't send any of them sniffing this way."  
  
"Don't worry, we have an agreement," Trick reminded him needlessly. "You take Kakistos out of the picture and we combine our forces to help you get your revenge."  
  
"And then I go on my merry way and you get to have this bloody town all to yourselves," Spike finished. What's left of it, he thought.  
  
"Still," Trick said, looking over his shoulder at the tunnel behind them. "I don't see how tunneling under a town that already has hundreds of them is going to help you defeat Kakistos?"  
  
"That's my concern, you just make sure you're ready to do your part when I make my move."  
  
"The sewer access to the firehouse is going to be guarded," Trick warned him.  
  
Spike grinned, exhaling smoke. "Well, I certainly hope so. In fact, why don't you double the guards there?"  
  
Trick narrowed his eyebrows. "You sure?"  
  
"Absolutely. And make sure it's someone loyal to our boy `Kistos, right?"  
  
Trick shook his head. "I hope you know what you're doing."  
  
  
  
End of Part Twelve  
  
  
********  
  
  
  
*****A CHANGE OF SCENERY*****  
  
THIRD THREAD: Part Thirteen  
  
  
  
  
  
***  
  
"I wish Buffy Summers had never come to Sunnydale!"  
  
"Done!"  
  
***  
  
  
  
  
Early December, 1998  
  
  
  
When the bright flash of light faded, Cordelia blinked. She was still standing in the quad of Sunnydale High, but she was suddenly alone.  
  
"Anya?"  
  
The new girl, she had met only yesterday, had been standing right in front of her just a second ago. Now she was no where in sight. Cordelia looked across the quad to where Buffy, Willow, and Xander had been sitting on the bench in front of the fountain. But the courtyard, which had been alive with students was almost desolate now. Even the fountain itself, which had been flowing, was suddenly barren.  
  
Something else that was no longer there, Cordelia realized, was the pain in her abdomen. She brought her hand to her left side and did not feel the bandages, through the fabric of her dress, covering her stitches, from her injury. In fact, the wound was gone, as if never there. Which should be impossible, she thought. She raised her hand to touch the pendant of the necklace Anya had just given her, remembering what she had said to Anya.  
  
" `I wish Buffy Summers had never come to Sunnydale.' " Cordelia repeated, scanning the quad again.  
  
Then Anya had become this hideous looking creature and then that bright flash of light before everything changed. Scattered pieces of trash littered the area as if no one could be bothered to keep it clean. There were only a handful of students heading inside to their classes, each moving in a brisk, almost skittish, pace, as if eager to get inside. But Cordelia didn't take much notice of this, still trying to make sense of what just happened.  
  
Still feeling the pendant between her fingers, Cordelia pondered, "She was, like . . . a good fairy." She raised her eyesbrows, "A scary , veiny . . . good fairy."  
  
She smiled at the implications of what just happened. If there really was no Buffy Summers, she thought, then there wouldn't be any reason for her to get sucked into the Slayer's group of losers and, she realized, there would be no chance on the Hellmouth that she would ever fall for Xander Harris any other way. The fact that she no longer had her injury proved it. So she and Oz never went to the burnt out factory to rescue Willow and Xander only to find them in the basement making out on Spike's old bed. And Cordelia hadn't fled back up the stairs and fallen through the weakened boards and impaled herself on the rebar last week.  
  
Turning, Cordelia snickered as she headed inside, a subtle bounce in her step that had been missing ever since her return to school.  
  
Once she entered the halls her pace slowed a bit as well as her excitement. The clock on the wall let her know that it was still the right time. That flash of light hadn't change that at least, but the school seemed a lot emptier than it should be. Sure there were students going up and down the corridors heading to their next classes but not as many as she was accustomed to seeing. But Cordelia mentally shrugged that off as she turned the next corner towards her locker.  
  
As she scanned the hallways, half expecting to run into one of the freak club: Xander, Willow, and even Buffy --despite the wish that seemed to have been granted to her-- Cordelia did not notice the framed photograped portrait on the wall above the locker line. If she had, she would have recognized the man as Principle Flutie, whom, in her memory, had died when he was eaten by hyena-possessed students nearly two years ago. She may have also seen the plaque under the portrait in memoriam to the principle and his *year* of service and realized that the date of his passing did not match the date she remembered him dying.  
  
She also didn't take much notice of the many open doors of empty lockers, some of which looked as if they hadn't been used in years --remnants of stickers and pin-ups, ominous traces of the last occupants, still clinging to the insides. And hanging on many of the closed lockers were strings of garlic. So Cordelia didn't notice the next portrait she passed. That of Principle Snyder, complete with memoriam plaque of his own recording a shorter term of service than that of Flutie. Her attention was on Harmony who was chatting up a storm to her group of friends as she dug out a text book from her locker.  
  
Cordelia hesitated but didn't stop moving forward --slowly passing the portrait of Principle Jackson, who just missed tieing Snyder, by just a couple of weeks, on months of service-- remembering how they had acted towards her since her return to school yesterday. At first, they seemed to accept her back into the fold of their elite social circle of the high school, but then revealed their true intentions by shunning her and embarrassing her at every opportunity. The most recent when they had walked passed Cordelia and Anya out in the quad just a few minutes ago.  
  
As soon as she spotted Cordelia, Harmony broke off what she was saying. "Where have you been!?" she demanded.  
  
Now Cordelia did stop completely --under the portrait of Principle McPherson, who posed no danger of breaking Principle Jackson's record of term of service. She smiled a bit tentatively as they approached her, preparing herself for another attack of insults from them, but Harmony and the others actually seemed happy to see Cordelia.  
  
"Ted Charvin just totally went for third with Ginger in front of everybody!" said an excited Hamony.  
  
Cordelia kept smiling, the name Ted Charvin meaning absolutely nothing to her, but obviously should the way Harmony spoke about it. But before she could reply, Aura leaned out from behind Harmony --like the good little sheep she and the others were, Cordelia noted-- admiring Cordelia's dress.  
  
"Love the dress," she said, with a dramatic hand over her heart. "It's so daring."  
  
And it was then that Cordelia finally took notice of what her friends were actually wearing. They were wearing dresses, skirts, and twinsets in the styles they usually wore, but the colors were all dark, drab, and grays. Cordelia's own turquoise dress was a bright clash in contrast.  
  
But before she could respond to Aura, another voice called out, "Cordelia."  
  
Cordelia saw it was John Lee as he hurried to her side. He was also wearing clothes in the same drab colors. When did everybody suddenly become sensitive to bright colors? she thought.  
  
"Yeah?" she replied, still remembering how he shrugged her off yesterday, not wanting to be seen with "Xander Harris' castoff." But now he seemed just a little nervous towards her, even timid, as he pulled her aside from the others --under yet another portrait, this one of Principle Johnson who shouldn't have even bothered to unpack his things into his new office.  
  
"Look," he said, "Every guy on campus has probably asked, but if you're not going to the Winter Brunch with anyone, I'd be honored, and we'd have fun."  
  
Cordelia didn't respond right away, waiting for the shoe to drop, or for John Lee to give away that he was putting her on. Well, she wasn't about to give him the satisfaction.  
  
"I'll get back to you," she said, evenly.  
  
"Really?" he said, suddenly full of hope.  
  
"Yeah." She smiled at him, gamely.  
  
"Great!" He actually sounded amazed to have gotten almost a "maybe" from her. He turned and headed down the hall in a happy stride.  
  
Not exactly sure what to make of what just happened, as she watched him go, she started to turn when Harmony and the others flocked around her.  
  
"Cordy, you reign!" Harmony said, with much admiration.  
  
"I do?" Cordelia almost frowned, then stopped herself. "I mean, I do."  
  
She was starting to feel like one of them once again. And why shouldn't she? she asked herself. In this reality she never even met Buffy, therefore wouldn't have given Xander Harris the time of day.  
  
I think I'm going to like it here, she thought, as they all started down the hall --passing the portrait of Principle Phillips.  
  
"So what's with the Winter Brunch thing?" Cordelia asked Harmony.  
  
Cordelia thought she saw some of the admiration slip from Harmony's eyes as the blonde gave her a look. "Well, duh. When else do you think we'd have the dance?"  
  
"Right," Cordelia said, quickly, not wanting to sound completely clueless.  
  
Then the group of girls reached the end of the hall disappearing around the left corner.  
  
Five seconds later, the custodian walked into the empty hall from around the right corner and stopped in front of the wall. He set down what he had been carrying, leaning it against the lockers, and raised the nail and hammer in his hands. As he pounded the nail into the wall, the noise echoed lonely through the corridors. The school bell rang just as he hit the nail's head one last time. He bent down and picked up the newly framed portrait of Principle Teagarden, placing it on its spot on the wall.  
  
  
End of Part Thirteen  
  
  
********  
  
  
  
  
SECOND THREAD: Part Fourteen  
  
  
  
  
  
"Stein, in my office, now," ordered the Police Chief, just a second before the detective was about to sit down at his desk.  
  
Stein glanced at the door of the Chief's office and saw that he already stepped back inside, leaving the door ajar. Stein released a breath and headed for the office. From the corner of his eyes he saw some of the other detectives and cops watching him, but when he truned his head to look at them, they quickly looked away.  
  
He found the Chief sitting behind his desk, looking down at an opened file.  
  
"Close the door and have a seat, Tom," he said, without looking up.  
  
Stein closed the door and sat down on the leather sofa. He didn't say anything, waiting for the older man to.  
  
"You look like hell," the Chief said, though he hadn't looked up. "The switch to the day shift not agreeing with you?"  
  
"It's fine," Stein said, not entirely keeping the sarcasm out of his voice.  
  
The Chief did look up then. "Really?"  
  
"Really."  
  
"Hmph." The Chief sat back, eyeing the detective thoughtfully. "I would have thought that you might be missing your regular hours."  
  
Stein shook his head nonchalantly. "Can't say that I have. In fact, I prefer the day shift now. Never really liked waking up at the crack of dusk."  
  
The Chief didn't say anything right away. "I see." He glanced down at the opened file. "I've just been reviewing an old case. One of yours, actually." He gave Stein a few seconds to respond, and when the dectective didn't, he added, "The Finch case."  
  
"I would hardly call that one an old case, Chief."  
  
"The case was investigated as far as we could take it."  
  
"Not as far as I would have--"  
  
"And it led to a deadend," the Chief cut him off.  
  
"A deadend?" Stein's voice rose, as he stood. "We had suspects! Two --VERY-- likely suspects!"  
  
"Suspects who had alibis," the Chief said, somehow keeping his tone calm while still making himself heard.  
  
Stein chuckled harshly and paced to one side of the office. He took little notice, through the half-closed blinds, the cops out in the main area looking towards the office.  
  
"The suspects *were* each others' alibis! I'd hardly call that very reliable."  
  
"The fact remains," the Chief continued unfettered, "is that there was never enough evidence uncovered--"  
  
"Evidence?!" Stein made no attempt to keep his voice calm. "We had evidence."  
  
"Right." Chief said, turning a page in the file. "A sharp, wooden stake that never made it to the evidence room."  
  
"I signed it in myself!"  
  
"Then how do you explain it not being there now?" Challenged the Chief.  
  
Stein didn't answer. From his expression it was clear that the two have had this conversation many times already. Finally, the Chief's expression softened a bit.  
  
"Look, Tom, you know I wasn't happy how things turned out. It was an ugly case. Being the Deputy Mayor who was murdered, the media was all over our asses. And with the Mayor breathing down our necks . . . And then when the case went nowhere."  
  
"And me being the primary on the case," added Stein, scornfully.  
  
"They were looking for blood and we didn't have anyone to blame," finished the Chief.  
  
"So you gave them mine."  
  
"Don't think for once that was an easy decision."  
  
Stein scoffed, lightly. "Yeah, I'm sure you lost sleep over that one."  
  
Some of the hardness returned to the Chief's tone. "Still. You were the primary, therefore, not completely without blame. Being the best detective I have, I did expect more from you. At least to provide us with a suspect--"  
  
"I gave you two suspects," Stein stated coldly.  
  
"Two teenage girls. The media would have had a field day with that. Especially with no evidence to back it up."  
  
"If you had let me lean on them the way I wanted to--"  
  
"You had already questioned them," the Chief cut in.  
  
"Yeah, and they were lying! The Summers girl definitely."  
  
"Do you think she was the one who wielded the murder weapon?"  
  
"It doesn't really matter, at this point, does it?" Stein said. "Whether she did the stabbing or is covering for the other girl, they're both accountable."  
  
"But you think she'd be the one to crack?"  
  
"She's the weak link. She almost broke when I was just talking to her at her home. If you had let me bring her in I know I would have had her."  
  
The Chief nodded. "And is that why you've been following these girls for the past few nights?" Stein didn't reply, nor did he flinch under the Chief's glare. After a moment, the Chief sighed. "Tom, I know how dedicated you are. You don't like leaving an unsolved case. Especially when it comes to this Buffy girl--"  
  
"It has nothing to do with this girl in particular--" Stein began to retort.  
  
"Considering," the Chief plowed through, "That you've investigated this girl in the past for murder before."  
  
"You know as well as I do there is more to her than meets the eye!"  
  
"And when those cases came up empty it kind of pissed you off. So now, I think you really want her to be the culprit in this case. To finally nail this girl," the Chief concluded.  
  
"It was an anonymous tip that led us to these girls in the first place," Stein countered. "It wasn't any vindiction of mine. These girls did it!"  
  
"Stop following them," the Chief ordered, standing up, silencing the detective. "I've backed you up in the past. I've covered for you as much as I could. If it wasn't for me you would have been kicked off The Force entirely. I don't need anymore heat coming down on this Department."  
  
This got Stein's attention. "What? Who's bringing heat down on the Department?"  
  
The Chief didn't respond quickly, and Stein was sure he saw something flicker accross the older man's expression. As if he had said a little too much.  
  
In a stern voice, the Chief said, "Look, let this one go." Then in a lower voice, which seemed to hold more truth than anything else the Chief had already said, "Trust me. You don't want to push this thing any further."  
  
Stein was about to reply, but the look in the Chief's eyes stopped him. It was something the detective could not recall seeing in the man's expression for as long as he'd been a cop in Sunnydale, but he recognized it for what it was.  
  
Fear.  
  
Wherever this heat was coming from, Stein doubted that it was from the girls' parents. He had actually spoken to Joyce Summers a few times --during past investigations when her daughter was a suspect-- and she didn't exactly strike him as someone with enough glout to be imposing, let alone fear. And then Faith didn't have any parents in Sunnydale.  
  
All of which served to fuel Stein's theory, back when the case took a sudden turn south, with their only piece of evidence disappearing, that there was someone more powerful pulling the strings, maybe even paid these girls to kill the Deputy Mayor. But for the first time, he considered the possibility that the same someone was pulling a few of the Chief's strings as well.  
  
This case has just gotten a lot bigger, Stein thought.  
  
And dangerous.  
  
  
* * * * *  
  
  
Anya came running into the ladies room, dropping her books on the floor, and barely shoved through the door of the nearest stall when she dropped to her knees in front of the toilet and vomited. Even though her hair was shoulder-length, and survived the first heave unscathed, she used one hand to pull her hair back and out of the way.  
  
When the dry heaves finally stopped, Anya sat back and leaned against the smooth surface of the stall, feeling it's coolness through the fabric of her clothes, and didn't move. Her eyes closed. Trying to catch her breath and get through the nausea, fighting the urge to throw up again.  
  
When she opened her eyes, nearly two minutes later, she found that the restroom was not spinning anymore, so slowly got to her feet. Stepping out of the stall, she approached the sink, ingnoring her books scattered on the floor. She ran the cold water, filled her hands, and rinsed her mouth. She repeated this until the harsh acidy taste had almost faded, then filled her hands again and splashed her face. This she did four times, each time with more force, drenching half her hair and most of the shoulders and sleeves of her sweater. Then she slammed her fists down on either side of the sink, in frustration, keeping her head bent forward over the running water.  
  
She remained like that for several seconds, until, finally, her fists relaxed and her shoulders sagged. Anya reached a tired hand to the faucet and shut the water, though it continued to drip. Since classes were still in session, the sound was loud and ominous in the now quiet restroom.  
  
Anya raised her soaked face to look at herself in the mirror, but instead of seeing her weary expression . . .  
  
She jerked back, with a surge of adrenaline, practically throwing herself backwards. She tried to move her feet to keep her legs underneath her upper body, but her foot came down on one of her text books and slipped, tilting her more dangerously off balance.  
  
As she fell, arms reaching out to either side to save herself, but only finding air, her eyes remained locked on the mirror. And what she was looking at inside the glass was the image of herself in her demon form of Anyanka.  
  
Staring back at her.  
  
Even though her fall to the hard tiled floor took less than two seconds, Anya thought she saw her demon reflection actually watching her as she fell, disappearing from its sight.  
  
Then the back of Anya's head hit the floor as she landed, and as the restroom's spinning began to stop again, even though it was getting dark, Anya still tried to speak. But even if somebody had been standing over her trying to listen, that person would not have heard her fading voice.  
  
"What . . do . . . you . . . . want. . . .?"  
  
  
* * *  
  
  
Thirty seconds after the bell rang, Buffy stepped out of her last class for the day, stifling a yawn as she walked down the hall. Her pace was considerably slower than that of most of the students around her who seemed very eager to get off school grounds.  
  
There used to be a time where I was like that, Buffy thought, glumly to herself. But despite how much time she actually spent in this school it was a wonder how come more of her schoolwork didn't get done. And with that thought, Buffy was brought back to all the problems she had almost forgot about during the last two minutes of class. Graduation. The Mayor's Ascension. Angel. Faith.  
  
That last one, quickly sobered Buffy up completely, and she was suddenly eager to get home to her mother. She picked up her step as she rounded the corner to her locker.  
  
Why had she not told her mother about Faith? Buffy wondered. She was able to admit to herself that it was careless, and more than a little reckless, not to at least warn her about Faith. It was exactly as she told Giles. Her mom was just so relieved that there was a another Slayer that Buffy just couldn't bring herself to crush her hopes that her daughter would actually be able to leave Sunnydale to go to college. That there was some future for Buffy other than dying at a young age. Not to mention that Faith was now one of the those things that could possibly cause Buffy's untimely death.  
  
Not if I cause hers first, Buffy thought, some of the anger she felt this morning returning. Could she really kill Faith? It was something she and the others had never seemed to talk about directly ever since finding out the Rogue Slayer had joined forces with the Mayor. The discussion of stopping the Mayor's Ascension was usually the main topic of all their meetings for the past couple of weeks, with Faith being a close second. But with all the talk about how to deal with Faith, no one ever spoke up and pointed out a way on exactly what was to be done with her. Even Wesley, the most vocal person in their meetings, never addressed the issue directly. And Giles seemed a little evasive on the subject as well, though he always made a point to inform everyone to be extra careful now.  
  
Capturing Faith was always a possibility, she supposed. But how do you keep a Slayer locked up? It wasn't like they could turn her over to the cops, even if they could prove that Faith was a danger to society, not with Mayor Wilkins calling the shots. And how would the police be able to hold someone with superhuman strength anyway?  
  
Buffy thought she understood now, why Giles skirted the issue. Because the most logical solution to dealing with a Rogue Slayer was to kill her? she thought. And the look on her former Watcher's face when she declared she was going to kill Faith. It was a look Buffy tried to chase away, but seemed to be seared into her memory, and even more painfully to her heart. The concern in his expression was not new to her. In fact, it was comforting, and a source of strength for her to turn to whenever she needed it.  
  
But not the fear.  
  
The fear in Giles' eyes. Not the worry he shared with her mother for Buffy's safety. He was afraid of what his Slayer might actually do and Buffy wanted almost more than anything to erase that look from his eyes. To reassure him that she wasn't going to do something that would turn herself into a murderer.  
  
But Buffy wasn't willing to sacrifice her mother's safety in order to do that.  
  
No, she thought, it was Faith's choice to raise the stakes. I'm more than willing to meet the challenge.  
  
"Buffy," a voice called out behind her, bringing her out of her thoughts.  
  
Buffy looked over her shoulder and tried to smile as Willow caught up with her.  
  
"Hey, Will," she greeted. "You seem to be doing a lot of running around lately."  
  
"Tell me about it," the redhead replied, as she matched Buffy's pace. "I was talking to Xander in class, because you know how he needs help with his trig, but it seemed like he couldn't keep his attention off of Cordelia --who sits just two rows in front of us --I think he still has lingering feelings for her, even though he would deny it on his deathbed. Of course, she never once looked in our direction --probably having to do with what happened between me and Xander and getting impaled and stuff."  
  
"Y'think?" Buffy said, jibely.  
  
But Willow continued as if not interrupted. "And then I had to go meet Oz outside before he left for practice with the band, so I was out of breath, and could hardly say good-bye, which wasn't too bad." Her smile widened. "It just meant we could do more kissing, which didn't help me to catch my breath any, but no bad there."  
  
"I'm sure," Buffy smiled, much easier this time.  
  
"And then I came to see you before you left," Willow glanced in the direction they were headed, "But since it looks as if you're going to the library I guess I ran for no reason since I was going that way too." The redhead finally took a deep breath. "Whooo."  
  
"Done?" Buffy asked.  
  
"Yeah," the redhead said, trying to catch her breath. "But . . . why am I the one doing all the running around? Why doesn't anyone run to me for once? I mean, Anya came to me this morning. Anya! She knows I don't like her. I mean, she has to know. Right? I think I expressed myself very clearly when I punched her out. That right there should have told her . . ."  
  
Willow trailed off when she saw how Buffy was looking at her.  
  
"Okay," Willow said, a bit sheepishly, "Now I'm done."  
  
"And again with the `punching Anya out' story," Buffy stated with a nod. "I think someone is a little punch-happy."  
  
"No!" Willow protested. "I would never be proud about punching someone out."  
  
"She declared in a tone full of pride," Buffy narrated. Before Willow could reply, she said, "And no library for me. I'm just stopping at my locker before I leave."  
  
"Oh." Willow fell silent as they reached their lockers and watched Buffy put away her books. "Why does it seem like you're avoiding the library?" Then in a more gentle tone, "Or is it Giles you're avoiding?"  
  
Buffy closed the locker. "I'm not avoiding Giles. I--" She stopped when she saw Willow's expression. She sighed and leaned against the lockers, once again feeling a little tired. "You should have seen the look on his face, Will. He was so disappointed with me."  
  
"Oh, Buffy. You just freaked him out a little that's all. He knew you didn't really mean it when you said you were going to kill Faith."  
  
Buffy shot Willow a look, but the redhead was opening her own locker and didn't see Buffy's expression, as she mumbled, "As appealing as that idea sounds. You were just really upset. Giles understands that."  
  
She closed her locker and gave Buffy a reassuring smile. Buffy could only stare at her friend. Finally, she blinked. "Right," Buffy had to force herself to say, and glanced over her shoulder so she would not have to look Willow in the eye. "I have to go," she said, glancing quickly at her. "I'll see you later, okay."  
  
She turned and Willow watched the Slayer hurry towards the exit.  
  
"Okay," Willow frowned.  
  
Buffy didn't look back once and Willow could have sworn that Buffy was moving faster the closer she got to the doors. She may have even broke into a run when she stepped outside.  
  
  
End of Part Fourteen  
  
  
  
********  
  
  
  
  
THIRD THREAD: Part Fifteen  
  
  
  
  
  
"Okay. Again . . the assignment is all the odd problems on page twenty-seven--"  
  
The last bell of the day rang. The teacher; who to Cordelia looked more like a teacher's assistant, as if he barely graduated from high school himself, if at all; instantly turned away from the blackboard and started to quickly grab his things from his desk, talking rapidly.  
  
"Alright," there was a sudden urgency to his tone. "Now, don't forget, tomorrow we have our, uh, monthly memorial, so uh, there's no class."  
  
He had barely finished talking and nearly ran out of the classroom. Cordelia frowned as she started to gather her own books. Monthly memorial? she wondered. Then she noticed that the other students seemed to be in a hurry to leave as well. The class was less than half full --in fact, it seemed as if less than half the students had shown up to any of the classes she had attended. But everyone who did show up was wearing the same dark, drab colors.  
  
Maybe it was a new fashion style --although a very weird fad at that-- in this reality, she thought. She mentally shrugged off that thought. It would just be her responsibility to bring back the bright colors, and with the arsenal she had in her closet, it shouldn't be too hard.  
  
"What's the rush?" she asked.  
  
Harmony, Aura, and Kate were already out of their seats.  
  
"Oh, you know, my mom hates it when I'm late," Harmony replied. Even though she said it casually, Cordelia thought there was a certain anxiousness to her voice.  
  
"Since when? Aren't we going out tonight?"  
  
Harmony gave her a strange look over her shoulder as she and the others headed for the door. With so few students, the rest of the class was already gone. Cordelia rose, her books in her arms.  
  
"Curfew starts in an hour," Aura said, in a tone suggesting any further discussion was unnecessary.  
  
"Curfew?" Cordelia frowned, then brightened. "Come on, I'm in a really good mood!" she said as she followed them. "Let's go to the Bronze!"  
  
This stopped the other girls in their tracks and they all turned to stare, disbelievingly, at Cordelia, which in turned, stopped her in her tracks.  
  
"Is that a joke?" Harmony asked, indignantly.  
  
Cordelia was struck speechless for a couple of seconds. If she hadn't known better she would have thought that Harmony was offended, but the blonde rarely felt strongly about anything unless it came to keeping up with the latest trends. So that must mean . . .  
  
"Oh! The Bronze isn't cool in this reality." That must be it, Cordelia thought. "I've gotta make these little adjustments," she shook her head, smiling.  
  
Of course, Harmony didn't know what the hell Cordelia was talking about and stepped closer as the others left.  
  
"Cordy, what's with you? I mean, you wear this come-bite-me outfit," she glanced down at Cordelia's dress, "you make jokes about the Bronze, and you're acting a little skitzo."  
  
Cordelia decided that if she was going to fit in in this new world she better find out exactly how it has changed from the one she was just in this morning.  
  
"You're right," she said. "I just . . . Well, I bumped my head yesterday, and I keep forgetting stuff."  
  
Harmony didn't really look convinced by that, but she seemed willing not to press the issue. Now Cordelia took a step closer to her. The first thing she should find out is what happened to "certain" people she hadn't seen in this reality yet.  
  
"Not that I care, but Xander Harris, he's miserable, right? And that Willow freak he hangs with, not even a blip on the radar screen, right?" Cordelia couldn't help smiling.  
  
This time, Harmony was struck speechless, and she just stared at Cordelia for a second. Then in a solemn voice, said, "Well . . . yeah. They're dead."  
  
Cordelia's smile instantly fell. Even though those two soft-spoken words hit her like a fallen boulder, she managed to keep herself on her feet, but she couldn't find her voice to respond. Even if she knew what to say to Harmony.  
  
But the blonde, whose patience for Cordelia had finally reached it's limit, rolled her eyes, exasperated, and turned away. But Cordelia hardly noticed as Harmony quickly marched out of the classroom.  
  
***  
  
Cordelia looked up from the floor and was brought out of her thoughts when she realized she was walking down the corridor leading to the library. Glancing over her shoulder, she couldn't even recall leaving the classroom. And where had everyone gone? she wondered. The students usually took off right at the last bell, but it had only been a few minutes and the school was virtually deserted now. It seemed like even all the teachers were gone.  
  
Cordelia idly remembered that she had cheerleading practice this afternoon but it didn't look as if any of the other cheerleaders were still around. In fact, she couldn't recall seeing any of them during the day. Well, before Anya had granted her wish anyway. Just as well, she thought, she really didn't feel like going to practice anyway.  
  
And why was she going to the library? she asked herself. What could possibly be there for her? If Buffy had never come to Sunnydale, and Willow and Xander were really dead . . .  
  
She slowed down and nearly stopped walking as her thoughts began to ponder that reality. Her gaze fell on the rows of lockers on either side of her. Most of them were closed while others hung open --empty inside, going unused for seemingly years-- but even those seemed abandoned. As if they still held books and supplies within for students who will never return for them. Then there were the lockers with crosses and strings of garlic hanging from them. But then something could have happened to those owners just recently and the crosses were yet to be removed and the garlic not given enough time to whither and fall to the floor . . . to be swept away by the janitor's push broom--  
  
Cordelia shook her head, ridding herself of those thoughts.  
  
Looking down the corridor she could almost see the double doors to the library from here.  
  
Giles isn't here either, she realized and yet wondered why that bothered her so much. The school was too quiet. There wasn't even any wind outside. Cordelia suddenly very much wanted to get away from here as soon as possible.  
  
Turning on her heels she picked up her pace and headed straight for the parking lot. She reached into her purse for her keys as she pushed through the door, stepping outside. She was halfway to the parking lot and was now digging through her purse, still searching for her keys.  
  
"Where are they?" she muttered to herself.  
  
She glanced up just to make sure she was heading in the right direction and continued to search her purse.  
  
She suddenly stopped in her tracks and raised her head again.  
  
Wide-eyed with shock, mouth opened, Cordelia approached the empty parking lot. There was not a single car on the lot. It looked as deserted as the school was. And with all the fallen leaves covering the parking lot, Cordelia may have wondered if it had been occupied with any cars in the past year, but she was too furious to think clearly just now. What started out to be a promising change for her had suddenly turned into something worse, and this had to be the final straw.  
  
"Okay. Not funny!" she raised her voice, her heels pratically pounding on the parking lot as she walked to the spot she had left her car this morning.  
  
Then she spotted the janitor walking from the other direction, lugging an trashcan behind his back, walking towards the school.  
  
"Hey! You!" Cordelia shouted, stopping the man as she stood in front of him. "Where did you put my car?"  
  
"Pardon?" he asked.  
  
Even though the hispanic man had spoken without a hint of an accent, Cordelia was fuming, "My auto! El convertablo?"  
  
The janitor didn't seem to take offense but narrowed his eyebrows in question. "You students aren't allowed to drive, and you know it."  
  
"What!?"  
  
"Now go on now, miss," he continued, ignoring the expression of disbelief on her face. "You better get in before the sun sets," he nodded his head toward the sun.  
  
And with that, continued on his way back towards the school, leaving a confused Cordelia to turn in place and watch him leave. Then she saw that the sun was already turning an orange-y yellow as it neared the horizon.  
  
Well, whatever was happening it would probably be best to be inside to figure it out. Especially in Sunnydale. She turned heading in the direction that would take her into town.  
  
  
End of Part Fifteen  
  
  
  



	5. Parts 16 - 20

  
FIRST THREAD: Part Sixteen  
  
  
  
  
"Got it," Mr. Trick called out as he crossed the firehouse to where Kakistos was sitting in his chair.  
  
He didn't even have to say what he got, Kakistos instantly knew what the younger vampire was talking about and sat up straight.  
  
"Where is she?" the large vampire demanded.  
  
Trick glanced at the small laptop in his hand. "She's been staying at a motel at the edge of town. A real fleatrap. Girl must seriously be low on funds to hole up in a place like--"  
  
Kakistos shot to his feet and was suddenly towering over Trick. "I don't care why she's there!" This got the attention of all the vamps in the main chamber. "She's going to die for what she did!" With a cloven thumb he traced the scar that ran down the right side of his face starting from his forehead, over his dead white eye, and down his cheek.  
  
Trick praised himself for not stepping back and manged to keep his voice steady as he said, "As soon as the sun sets we'll head out. We can be there in about an hour."  
  
Kakistos continued to glare down at him but he didn't say anything else. For a moment, Trick thought the big vamp may actually be considering taking his frustrations out on him and he was about to take a step back when Kakistos finally sank back down into his easy chair.  
  
Trick resisted the urge to sigh in relief and turned his attention to his laptop as a way to avoid the master's gaze. And where the hell was Spike? he thought. The sun was nearly down. If he was going to attack he had better start soon, otherwise Kakistos would be able to escape into the night. And despite his better judgment, Trick had doubled the guard on the sewer access in the back.  
  
There was a knock at the large doors at the front of the firehouse and Trick looked over his shoulder with a frown.  
  
"Did someone order food?" he asked.  
  
The four other vampires in the chamber looked at one another and shook their heads.  
  
Nodding to one of the vampires, Trick said, "Theo, check that out. Maybe it's a Jehovah's witness."  
  
Complying, one of the young vampires headed towards the doors, walking pass the pile of corpses of various delivery guys, that had accumilated during the past two days. The food the unfortunate humans had delivered were discarded and untouched, while the vamps' *real* food was drained of their blood.  
  
With interest, Trick and the others watched Theo approach the smaller access door, pulling on a long welder's glove, that would protect his arm when he reached out to grab the unlucky soul standing out in the sunlight.  
  
Ready, Theo grabbed the knob with his ungloved hand, turned it, and swung the door open. Trick saw Theo reaching out to grab the person whoever it was , but an arm from outside struck out like a snake and snagged the shoulder of Theo's jacket and, if Trick hadn't been looking on, he would have said that the young vampire had simply vanished. Unfortunately, for Theo, that was not the case, as the young vampire's screams echoed from outside as he burned in the fading, but just as deadly, sunlight.  
  
The screams were abruptly cut off when Theo burst into ashes and everyone inside didn't move for a few seconds. Even Kakistos seemed taken aback, but the large vampire finally rose to his feet and was about to give his minions an order when someone stepped through the small door.  
  
With his vampire reflexes, Trick could have saved his computer when it slipped from his fingers, but the shock of what he was seeing didn't even let him register the sound the expensive laptop made when it hit the concrete floor. And the new arrival just stood there in the shaft of orange sunlight coming through the door behind him.  
  
Unharmed, Spike took the opportunity of everyone's shock to light a cigarette. Holding the cig between his fingers, he exhaled and eyed each of the vampires in turn. He grinned.  
  
"Okay, who wants to be second?"  
  
  
  
*****  
  
  
  
Kendra found the motel which was located just off the highway leading out of town. Faith had told them where she was staying but Kendra and the others had not been there yet, nor had the new Slayer invited them over. Seeing the place, Kendra could understand why. Even some of the un-airconditioned buildings she had stayed in her own country were in better condition then this place. Not that comfort had any bearing on her being the Slayer, she thought, and actually approved of Faith's choice. It was adequate and simply served its purpose which was all a Slayer needed. A place to rest and heal wounds.  
  
With a haven from the demons, even a temporary one, and given enough time, a Slayer could heal almost any wound she suffered. Providing it didn't kill her outright, Kendra thought, and reflected on a time when she had received a rather severe wound, the worst she had ever suffered, she realized.  
  
It was shortly after her return home from traveling to Sunnydale and meeting her predecessor for the first time. Even though she had hid it, Kendra had been as surprised as Buffy to realize that there were now two Slayers in the world. But no one seemed to have been more shakened by this news than Mr. Zabuto. She immediately noticed a difference in his demeanor. Though he was not a man who readily showed much emotions, she had known him for too long not to see the tension in his body that was there, even in subtle movements of his head. But since Mr. Zabuto felt so strongly about never letting emotions interfere with one's duty, she gave it little thought.  
  
On that night she had retreated to a small inn of the nearby village, unable to make it all the way home, wearing a long coat --confiscated from one of the demons she had slain-- to hide her wounds, trying to drip as little blood as possible. Kendra barely made it to her room before collapsing on the bed, her blood quickly soaking through the bedspreads. From what remained of her supplies she started to dress her wounds but must have passed out before she had the first wound completely bandaged. For the next thing she was aware of was someone kneeling beside the bed and, through her hazy sight saw an Oriental woman tending her wounds. Kendra had recognized the woman as her amah from when she was younger, but it had been years since she had seen the woman, ever since Kendra's mastery of the Chinese language and having just reached her teen years, Mr. Zabuto had dismissed the woman, declaring her duty to his Slayer complete.  
  
Her amah had left that same day and Kendra had nearly missed her leaving the home, only catching sight of her as she was walking out. But she had looked back and saw the young girl she had taken care of for years and seeing the sorrow and tears in the woman's eyes brought out emotions in Kendra she had never felt before. Sure she had cried during hard training sessions or whenever she injured herself, but that was from a physical pain Kendra could identify and, with strong words from her Watcher, over time had learned to suppress.  
  
But what she was feeling at that moment, she could not identify. It hurt as much as anything that had happened to her physically, but she did not know how to suppress this kind of pain. Nor stop the tears from falling down her cheeks. Upon seeing her charge start to cry, the woman could not keep herself from crying. Mr. Zabuto had grown angry at this and hurried the woman out and Kendra cried harder. It seemed like hours before her Watcher had been able to calm her down and he tried to explained to her that what she was feeling could get her killed during a fight, citing how dangerous it was for her to allow such emotions to deter her mindset.  
  
The next weeks that followed had been almost continuous training and meditation exercises. Anything and everything Mr. Zabuto could have her do to hone her focus, not let anything distract her. That had been the last time Kendra could remember crying.  
  
Now seeing the same woman who had cared for her all those years ago suddenly by her side, tending her injuries as if she had never stopped, made Kendra remember those long buried emotions she had felt. She had tried to speak, to confirm that she was indeed awake and not dreaming the woman's presence, but her amah had pressed a soft finger to Kendra's lips and shushed her quietly. In her weakened condition, Kendra had been unable to stay awake and had faded back to sleep. When she woke up the following day to discover the sun already setting, she found Mr. Zabuto in her room, sanitizing fresh bandages for her wounds.  
  
He took her report about her mission for the night before, as he changed her dressings and was displeased that she had not completed her mission. Though she had succeeded in slaying the leader of the pack and his strongest minions Kendra did feel all the mission objectives were met, but really couldn't argue with her Watcher's assessment since she did in fact leave a few of the demons alive. Even though they did pose little threat. He also reprimanded her for not contacting him last night and that she was lucky she was able to wrap her wounds before she bled to death. What if she had lost consciousness? As he told her it was lucky he had come into town to look for her, her mind was racing to determine if maybe she had dreamt her amah being with her last night. She *had* lost consciousness, that she had no doubt about, but could she have really woke up during the night and treated her own wounds and not remember doing so?  
  
As the months passed it seemed as if Mr. Zabuto was growing increasingly unsuccessful in keeping his emotions in check, and was even becoming short-tempered. When Kendra failed in little tasks on missions, which just a few short months before he would otherwise overlook, he would reprimand her severely. Sometimes, needlessly, Kendra felt. It was almost as if her each success was not good enough. No matter how big the threat that was put down or how dangerous the demon she faced, Kendra was receiving less and less praise for her accomplishments, though Kendra herself sought none. She was still getting used to the high --comparatively speaking-- praise she received from Mr. Giles.  
  
It wasn't until the night before she would return to Sunnydale that things became a bit more clear. It was a restless night and Kendra was on her way to the training room when she heard Mr. Zabuto's voice, having little success in keeping it from raising in anger, as he spoke to someone on the phone. Or rather arguing with that someone. She remained hidden on the other side of the slightly opened door and listened to the heated conversation. From her Watcher's side of the discussion she discovered he was actually speaking to one of the council members, recognizing the name Travers, who was the go-between for the Slayers and the rest of the Watchers Council. Mr. Zabuto was implying that the Council was treating his Slayer as a back-up unit for the *former* Slayer.  
  
Kendra had never heard him refer to Buffy as that before. It was as if he no longer considered Buffy a real Slayer. She listened as he continued to argue that the Council was not giving enough attention to the needs of his Slayer --she also noticed that Mr. Zabuto had not used Kendra's name throughout the half of the conversation she overheard.  
  
Was that why her Watcher seemed so stressed lately? she wondered. Because Kendra was not the sole Slayer? That Buffy, who during her first year as the Slayer, had already made an impressive mark for herself by slaying the legendary Lothos, was still around after surviving her first death, thus activating Kendra as the next Slayer? Buffy had also defeated, the even more legendary Master, the vampire who killed her. Kendra, during her months as the Slayer, had yet to face a foe as legendary as either of those two.  
  
The next day her Watcher sent her to Sunnydale to assist Buffy, telling her that recent portents had indicated a powerful dark rising looming on the horizon. But from his conversation with the Council, she didn't believe the order came from him.  
  
Kendra shoved all thought of what happened next aside as she stepped up to Faith's door and knocked sharply on it.  
  
"Yeah?" she heard Faith's voice from inside two seconds before the brunette swung the door open.  
  
She just stood there a beat, trying to hide the surprise of seeing Kendra standing at her door.  
  
"Hey, Ken," Faith greeted. "What brings you to the poor side of town?"  
  
  
  
*****  
  
  
  
The last bell had rang about twenty minutes ago and Oz and Willow were back in the library, sitting at the table. Giles was in his office calling the retreat in England once again. With the first phone call he had discovered that Faith's Watcher had not shown up at the retreat and they would try contacting her in Boston then get back to Giles as soon as they could. But since this morning there was still no word from them and Giles had decided to give them another call.  
  
But with what Giles had told them about what happened to Xander last night, Faith's recklessness had taken a back burner. Well, a sideburner, anyway, Willow thought. Giles had made it clear that Xander completely believed that it was Buffy who had saved him last night. Just suddenly appearing and mysteriously vanishing shortly after.  
  
"This is all so . . ." Willow trailed off. "I don't think weird is a strong enough word for what this is."  
  
"Do you think Xander really saw Buffy?" Oz asked.  
  
Willow turned her head towards him and was about to reply. Then stopped, seeing the expression on his face. Most would not have noticed anything beyond the calm stoic exterior which was Oz's trademark, but Willow saw a hint of his true emotions reflected in his eyes. Oz had always been there for her, been strong for her. Especially those weeks following Buffy's death. Never once faltering or giving in to his own pain. Feeling just a little selfish, she realized that it never really occured to her that Oz might have been in need of support himself. True he hadn't been as close to Buffy as Willow and the others were, but they had been friends.  
  
Willow took his hand in hers and gave it a reassuring squeeze, not sure if it was for him or herself. Probably for both, she thought.  
  
"I don't know what to think," she finally said. "I mean," she hesitated. "Buffy did come back from the dead before, but--but that was only after she had been gone for just a couple of minutes. This was more . . ."  
  
Willow stopped again, mouth trying to form the word. She was about to say "bloody" but just couldn't bring herself to. True she had missed nearly everything that had happened in the library that night, having been knocked into a coma early in the fight. But she had seen the library after getting out of the hospital, in fact had insisted on going there. The library was still marked a crime scene and she had Oz help her out of the wheelchair, she was confined to, in her weakened condition, as to avoid rolling through the blood that had yet to be cleaned. A lot of the blood, especially at the foot of the stairs, she knew had been Buffy's.  
  
"It was . . ." Willow began again.  
  
"Different," Oz said, gently.  
  
Grateful, Willow said, "Yeah. And she couldn't be a vampire." Her voice took on a note of dread. "I mean, even if we had somehow missed noticing her grave being disturbed, don't you think she would have come after us?" She quickly shook her head, feeling the tears come to her eyes as the words just started to tumble out. "Not Buffy, of course. I--I mean vampire Buffy. She would have come after those she cared about, I mean that Buffy-Buffy cared about, the--the same way Angel came after all of us. But then why would she show herself now after so long, and--"  
  
"And Kendra told us Buffy didn't feed off Drusilla," Oz interjected, more to stop Willow. And the redhead did take the opportunity to calm herself and managed to blink away the tears from her eyes. "We shouldn't jump to any conclusions just yet. There's still the possibility that Xander was mistaken about what he saw."  
  
Even though Willow did not completely believe that, she nodded. "I hope so." Her eyes widened as she realized how that sounded. "I mean, not that I don't want Buffy to be alive again, it just--"  
  
Oz patted her hand, offering her a small smile. "I know what you meant. We shouldn't get our hopes up."  
  
"You're right. Becoming a vampire is just one way someone could come back." Willow frowned. "And the other ways aren't anymore appealing . . ." She trailed off once again. Then said, "I think we should wait to see how Giles wants to handle it."  
  
As Oz nodded in agreement, Cordelia walked into the library.  
  
"Well, I called Xander's house again," she announced, as she headed for the table. "He still hasn't been home today. At least, that's what his mother says." She scoffed slightly as she sat down across from them. "As if she would notice if he walked through the front door."  
  
Worried, Willow said, "I don't like this. We should go look for him."  
  
"But what about Kendra?" Oz asked.  
  
"Well," Willow started, conflict in her expression. "Kendra's probably on her way to find Faith. She should be fine. Even if this Kakistos guy is here gunning for Faith, two Slayers would be a handful for any vampire to handle."  
  
"The sun is going to be down soon," Cordelia added. "If Xander's out there wondering around he could get caught in the middle of it. And we all know what an expert he is at getting himself into trouble."  
  
Before anyone could say anything else, Giles stepped out of his office. He looked up and saw them.  
  
"You're all here. Good." He stopped just a few steps away from the table and Willow immediately picked up on the not so pleasant vibes coming form him.  
  
"What did they say?" Willow asked, not really anticipating good news. "Did you talk to Faith's Watcher?"  
  
Giles took a deep breath. "Her Watcher is dead."  
  
This struck everyone silent as the words sank in. It was Oz who finally broke the silence. "How?"  
  
"They're not sure of the details," Giles said. "But searching through the news archives, they suspect that she was killed perhaps three weeks ago. Her body was only discovered ten days ago." His voice lowered to a near whisper as he removed his glasses, avoiding eye contact. "What was left of it."  
  
"So these guys are after Faith," Cordelia stated.  
  
"It would appear so."  
  
"We have to tell Kendra," Willow said. "She needs to know. If Faith finds out that Kakistos's in town she might run away again leaving Kendra to fight them alone."  
  
"I knew I didn't like her," Cordelia said, bitterly.  
  
"Let's not be hasty," Giles said, reasonably. "Faith obviously came to us for help."  
  
"More like to duck for cover."  
  
"Then why wouldn't she tell us what happened?" Willow asked.  
  
Looking down at the glasses in his hand, Giles started to pace slowly in front of the table. "Her Watcher had just been killed. I'd imagine she's going through a rather rough time right now."  
  
"Well, she sure knows how to hide it well," Cordelia put in, not too unkindly.  
  
"She may even blame herself for not being able to protect her Watcher," Giles continued. "Nevertheless, it's more important now than ever to find her and talk to her. We must reassure her that we are on her side. And we don't want to appear confrontational. We don't want to make her start running again."  
  
"So it might be a good idea to find her before Kendra does?" Willow suggested. She saw the look Oz and Giles gave her and added quickly, "I know I was the one who said it would be best for her to talk to Faith, but she doesn't know about this. And-and she's not exactly the nonconfrontational type of Slayer."  
  
"There's a contradiction in terms," Cordelia said. "No such thing as a subtle Slayer."  
  
"Then we should hurry," Giles said.  
  
Willow stood up. "What about Xander? I'm worried about him."  
  
"We could split up," Oz suggested.  
  
"I'll drive out to the Bronze," Cordelia replied. "That's where he supposedly saw Buffy. He'll probably go back there."  
  
"I'll go with you," Willow said.  
  
"Uh, Willow," Giles spoke up. "I think it would be best if you accompanied me to find Faith. You and Xander did seem to get along with her the best."  
  
"I suppose," she admitted, a bit reluctantly.  
  
"Don't worry." Oz took her hand, reassuringly. "I'll go with Cordelia. We'll find Xander."  
  
But Willow was unable to keep the worry out of the smile she gave him. "Okay."  
  
"We'll go in your van, Oz," Cordelia said, as the two of them headed out of the library. "Just in case Xander's gotten himself beaten up again and dripping blood."  
  
Willow rolled her eyes as she watched them leave.  
  
"Faith told you where she was staying, yes?" Giles asked.  
  
"Yeah. I think I can show you where it is," she told him as they followed the others out.  
  
  
  
*****  
  
  
  
"Kill him!" Kakistos roared.  
  
As the first fanged minion charged Spike head on, the blonde vampire was calmly reaching inside his leather duster and pulled out a metal flask, quickly unscrewing the top. He threw his head back taking a quick swig and the first vampire was nearly on top of him when Spike spat the liquid directly in his face.  
  
The vampire screamed in pain and began to claw at his face as his wet flesh started to sizzle, smoke rising while he staggered back. Spike wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and returned his cigarette to his lips. Stepping forward, he placed a hand on the side of the vampire's head and nonchalantly shoved the writhing creature aside, where he fell to floor, still clutching his disintegrating face. Spike grimaced at his hand, but then grinned as he wiped it on his shirt.  
  
Seeing the stunned faces of the other vampires, Spike chuckled. "Messy bit'o business, eh?"  
  
"How . . ?" Mr. Trick's mind was racing to explain how this vampire had been able to walk in from direct sunlight, seemingly take a drink of holy water, and yet remain uneffected.  
  
"You have the Gem!" roared Kakistos. Even though Trick had no idea what the master was talking about, it seemed the large vampire knew exactly how Spike came to possess such miraculous endurance.  
  
Spike just continued to grin smugly. "Be surprised what you can find with a bit'o digging."  
  
Enraged, Kakistos roared. "Get him! I want that gem!"  
  
The vampire to Trick's left, and closest to Spike, charged the blonde vamp, but Trick raised an arm in front of the other two vampires to his right before they started to move. The two, a male and female, gave him a dubious look. Trick just shook his head at them.  
  
"Let's see what happens, hmm?" he said, quietly.  
  
Kakistos didn't notice this betrayal from his right-hand man, for he was following the other vampire heading towards Spike.  
  
Again, Spike seemed to wait til the last minute before he reached into his coat once more. Seeing this, the charging vampire tried to reach him before he could pull out whatever weapon he was reaching for, but he was not expecting the wooden cross Spike shoved in front of him. The vampire growled in pain, bringing his arms in front of his face, trying to stop his forward momentum. And he succeeded in stopping before he collided with the cross. As he tried to backpeddle away, he did catch a glimpse of the hand holding the cross and noticed the absence of burning flesh. Before he could take even a step back, Spike reversed his hold on the cross, revealing the longer end, sharpened to a point, and slammed it into the vampire's chest.  
  
In the three seconds it took for the vampire to turn to dust, the cross continued to burned his chest from the inside, smoke rising, until the creature's screams were mercifully cut off when he finally disintegrated.  
  
The quick dispatch of another one of his minions, caused Kakistos to hesitate. But the monstrous vampire quickly recovered and charged at Spike once more. Spike was already pulling out a liquor bottle from his coat.  
  
Seeing that the bottle was filled with a clear liquid, "Holy water," Trick muttered, and he and the other two vamps started to step back.  
  
With great force, Spike threw the bottle down at Kakistos' feet, and the master vampire instantly stopped in his tracks, his feet skidding slightly in the large puddle. A second later, he realized his soaked legs were not burning. Kakistos raised his eyes at Spike and sneered.  
  
"I guess you forgot to have it blessed, tiny vampire," he growled.  
  
Spike just raised an eyebrow and tilted his head, not looking terribly concerned. "Bugger me, then." With that, Spike plucked the cigarette from between his lips and tossed it down.  
  
The instant the burning tip hit, the puddle ignited surrounding Kakistos in a blaze that quickly flared up his legs. In less than two seconds, he was completely engulfed in flames.  
  
Roaring in pain, and mostly rage, Kakistos thrashed within the fire that was charring his flesh, as Spike just stood back and watched.  
  
"Well," Spike said, "now that that's taken care of--"  
  
But he was cut off when the unliving flame that was Kakistos suddenly lunged forward at him and Spike tried to dodge.  
  
"Oh, sod it--"  
  
But he was slammed to the floor with the large vampire on top, who was determined to take Spike with him. Trick lost sight of the blonde vampire under the fire. Guess he wouldn't have to deal with Spike after all, Trick thought with a grin. But he did appreaciate the sly vampire for taking out the big guy for him.  
  
Then Kakistos suddenly exploded in burning embers of ash and Trick saw that Spike was still moving. The blonde vampire, nonchalantly it seemed, rose to his feet. This, despite the fact that he was half on fire himself, which he removed when he slipped out of his coat and let it drop to the floor. He stomped the fire out with his heavy boot.  
  
"Bloody hell," he muttered, picking up his burnt coat, examining it for a moment. Then he ran a hand over his hair, and smiled when he found it was unscathed, as the rest of himself was.  
  
As Trick and the other vampires gaped, they watched Spike walk calmly past the fire towards them, slipping back into his coat, which was still smoking in some spots.  
  
Just then, three more vamps rushed into the main chamber from a back corridor and stopped in their tracks as they took in the scene. Spike just grinned at all of them.  
  
"Good," he said. "Now that we're all here, what say we get this meeting on the way?"  
  
"Where's the master?" demanded one of the new arrivals.  
  
Spike eyed the three vamps for a moment, then just shook his head with a sigh. "I suppose we could postpone the meeting a few more minutes."  
  
  
  
End of Part Sixteen  
  
  
  
  
********  
  
  
  
  
  
SECOND THREAD: Part Seventeen  
  
  
  
  
  
Angel woke with a start, gasping needlessly for breath. Just a long remembered human reaction to a very inhuman nightmare. But unlike the countless other nightmares he's had in the hundred years since his human soul was first returned to him, this nightmare was quickly fading, as if he was somehow unable to keep it in his memory. Not that he mind. The feelings of dread, and fear . . .  
  
Yes, he thought. Whatever the dream had been about, it had frightened him deeply. A type of fear that he felt only when something terrible was about to happen, or when someone he cared for was in danger. And that feeling was still with him, even though the remnants of the nightmare were almost gone.  
  
Sitting up in his bed in the mansion, he realized that his whole body was trembling. He swung his legs off the bed and leaned his hands on his thighs, trying to calm himself down.  
  
"Buffy," his hoarse throat barely allowed him any voice.  
  
He told himself it was just a dream, but he needed to know if it really had been about Buffy, if for no other reason than to give himself peace of mind. Peace of mind, he scoffed silently, as he closed his eyes and tried to recall anything from the nightmare.  
  
It seemed there had been anything but peace of mind as of late. Bad enough that the Mayor of Sunnydale had some great big evil plan scheduled on graduation day, or even that Faith had recently joined his side, not to mention that he and Buffy's relationship was on a "break"--  
  
Now his mind had to start giving himself imaginery things to worry about.  
  
He understood completely why Buffy needed to take some time away from him, but he couldn't keep himself from feeling just a little bitter at her decision. True she was dealing with quite a bit right now. All the more reason to let him help her, he thought.  
  
Even though the past week away from her had been not unlike torture, he was respecting her wish and staying away. But not out of reach, he told himself.  
  
During his own patrol he had spotted her a couple of times and had resisted the urge to go to her. The temptation to follow her had been even greater. Thinking about it made him feel alittle remorseful of the vampire he had run into after seeing her. He had taken a little longer than usual to slay the creature.  
  
Okay, he admitted to himself. Maybe a lot longer than usual.  
  
He opened his eyes again. There was nothing of the nightmare he could remember. It was more a feeling now. And not knowing what had caused these feelings of impending doom, was even more aggravating than being able to see the danger right in front of him.  
  
But what did it have to do with Buffy? he wondered. Or was it just his longing for her that was associating Buffy with the nightmare? It made sense. It wasn't as if she was ever very far from his thoughts. There was probably a span of five minutes during the week when he actually hadn't been thinking about her, he thought.  
  
"That's gotta be a record," he said, softly.  
  
Whatever it was, no matter how much he believed it was just a dream and meant nothing, Angel knew he wasn't going to feel better until he actually went to see Buffy. Knew she was all right. Even if it meant he would have to see from a distance and not talk to her.  
  
Wouldn't be the first time, he realized.  
  
He got up to get dressed, knowing the sun would be down very soon.  
  
  
  
*****  
  
  
  
"This is unacceptable," declared Wesley. "Buffy knows perfectly well how important finding out about the Mayor's Ascension is. She should be here."  
  
"Do calm yourself," Giles said, mildly as he walked past the young Watcher to the table setting down the book in his hand. He sat down and took a sip of tea from his cup. "I'm sure we can navigate the perils of research without the Slayer for a few hours."  
  
"Well, I'm more concerned with what our Slayer might do left on her own."  
  
"She's just having dinner with her mother," Willow told him. She was sitting across from Giles.  
  
Sitting beside her, Xander frowned at her. "Uh, Will, Buffy did tell you that Faith was with her mom last night, didn't she?"  
  
"Yeah, she did." Xander just raised his eyebrows in an expactant manner, which prompted her, "And?"  
  
"*And* that she said she was going to kill Faith?"  
  
"So?" was all Willow said.  
  
Xander let out an exasperated sigh. "Will, I know you don't like Faith all that much . . ."  
  
"Only in that `not at all' kind of way," Willow said, in a cheery voice.  
  
"Okay. But you're not even just a little worried about Buffy?"  
  
"Of course I am. With Faith being such a big threat to Buffy and her mom."  
  
"No. I mean that Buffy might actually go out Faithhunting."  
  
Willow shook her head. "Even as dangerous as Faith is, Buffy wouldn't do that. She wouldn't kill anybody. It's just not in her nature."  
  
Xander didn't reply and, seeing his expression, Willow glanced at Giles and saw the concern in the librarian's eyes and he brought his cup back to his lips.  
  
"Right?" she asked.  
  
"You weren't here when she said it, Will," Xander told her gently. "It was kinda scary."  
  
"But you don't really believe she would actually do it?" she demanded.  
  
Giles was looking down in his cup, as he answered, "Buffy can be a bit headstrong at times. Not to mention quite a force when she sets her mind to something." He took a breath. "But I'm sure she'll do nothing rash."  
  
"Right," Willow agreed. "And she is home having dinner with her mom, right now. How much trouble can she get into anyway?"  
  
  
  
*****  
  
  
  
"Mom, I'm home," Buffy called.  
  
She was closing the front door when her mother's voice came from the kitchen. "In here, Buffy."  
  
Buffy made sure to lock the door and slide the chain in place. Little good would they do if Faith decided she really wanted to get into the house, she thought. But at least the noise of the door getting kicked in would provide some warning for them.  
  
She hung up her coat and headed for the kitchen. As she walked through the dining room, the aroma of cooking food filled her nose.  
  
"Mom, I said I would help you fix dinner."  
  
"Oh, I know, honey," Joyce said, as Buffy stepped into the kitchen. "But we thought we'd get things started."  
  
But Buffy had stopped hearing her mother's voice at "honey." She was also stopped in her tracks by what she was seeing.  
  
"Besides, it gave us some time to talk a little," Joyce said, as she stirred a pot of sauce on the stove.  
  
Behind her, Faith was rinsing off a head of lettuce at the sink. The brunette smiled at the blonde Slayer as she looked over her shoulder at Buffy's shocked expression.  
  
"Hey, B," Faith said. "Just in time."  
  
  
  
  
End of Part Seventeen  
  
  
  
  
********  
  
  
  
  
FIRST THREAD: Part Eighteen  
  
  
  
  
  
"We need to talk," Kendra said, walking inside the room past Faith.  
  
Still facing out the door, Faith said, "Please, come in."  
  
The brunette closed the door and turned to face Kendra who was standing in the middle of the room looking at Faith.  
  
"It's about de vumpires we fought last night."  
  
Walking towards the bed, Faith said, "You know, you really need to do something about all that small talk, Ken. You gotta learn to just get right down to business." She grinned as she sat down on the edge of the bed. But Kendra was just looking at her with the same serious expression on her face.  
  
Faith rolled her eyes.  
  
Then she noticed Kendra's gaze was on the bed. The bed that was still unmade. After her night, not to mention morning, Faith thought, with Scott. Kendra saw that Faith was looking at her and turned away, as if sizing up the rest of the room.  
  
Faith smiled. "Sorry about the mess. I didn't have much time to fix the place up. I actually just got up myself." She lazily stretched her arms over her head. "Kind of a long night, y'know."  
  
Kendra just glanced at her, trying to keep her expression neutral but Faith could tell that she was really making the other Slayer uncomfortable and didn't try to keep her smile from widening.  
  
"So do you know Scott?" Faith said, in a casual tone.  
  
"No," was all Kendra said.  
  
Faith tilted her head nonchalantly. "He's a real cutey." She chuckled slightly. "And a lot better than I thought he would be. But I think he thought that what we did really meant something. Like it would be something special. You know what I mean?"  
  
Kendra didn't respond.  
  
Faith feigned surprise. "Oh. Sorry. Forgot who I was talking to."  
  
Now Faith was sure she saw anger boiling up inside Kendra.  
  
"But who knows," Faith continued. "Hang out with me more often and I might be able to show you how to meet boys and--"  
  
"Kakistos."  
  
This stopped Faith cold, her smile disappearing as if a switch had been flipped. She was sure all the color had drained from her face as well.  
  
"What?" she said, through a suddenly constricted throat.  
  
"Kakistos is in Sunnydale," Kendra told her in a cold tone.  
  
If she hadn't been reeling from the shock, Faith might have noticed the tint of satisfaction on Kendra's expression. But it was all Faith could do not to scream, and was suddenly aware that she was digging her fingernails into her thighs, as she sat there, almost feeling them penetrate through the fabric of her jeans.  
  
Before she could draw blood, Faith clenched her hands into fists. She looked around her room, her head jerking from side to side. She saw her shoulder bag on the floor and shot to her feet crossing the room to pick it up.  
  
Kendra just watched her stoically, as Faith yanked opened the drawer of the dresser and started stuffing her clothes into the bag. But Faith had almost forgotten that the other Slayer was still present.  
  
"Why is he after you, Faith?" Kendra asked.  
  
Faith's head swung around to look at her. Then she quickly went back to packing.  
  
"We just got into a major beef back in Boston," Faith failed to keep her tone anything less than near-panic. She forced a chuckle. "Didn't think he would take it so personally."  
  
Not bothering to close the drawer, Faith grabbed up her boots and sat down on the bed again as she frantically pulled them on.  
  
"What did he do?" Kendra asked.  
  
"It's what I did to him," Faith replied, not looking up.  
  
"Ye hurt him," Kendra stated.  
  
Faith had been pulling the laces of her boot tight, and one of the ends snapped. She cursed under her breath, throwing the piece away, but still managed to tie the boot with what little lace was left.  
  
Not as much as he hurt me, she almost said aloud. Or how much he hurt *her* before he killed her.  
  
"And now he wants revenge," Kendra continued. "So ye decided to run away."  
  
Faith shot to her feet standing right in front of Kendra and the other Slayer didn't even flinch.  
  
"Hey! You don't know me! You have know idea what I've been through!"  
  
Not backing down, Kendra said, "And ye t'ought it would make tings better if ye ran. Instead dis master vumpire is chasing you. Ye left y'self in a defensive position dat will just wear you down."  
  
Faith just sneered at her. "Right. 'Cause you know all about strategy and how it is to be the perfect Slayer, because you've had a Watcher since you were a baby. Well, I wasn't that lucky, okay! I've been on my own since I was little. I took care of myself then and I'm the only one who can take care of myself now."  
  
"Alone and on de run ye will never defeat Kakistos," Kendra told her.  
  
"I don't have to beat him," Faith countered. "I just have to stay one step ahead of him."  
  
"Until when?" Kendra demanded. "Until he gives up? He is immortal."  
  
"And I suppose you have a better idea," Faith spat.  
  
"We work together. Last night, ye told me ye wanted to find dese vumpires. Well, dey are de ones chasing you. We took care of dem last night, we can handle de rest of dem."  
  
Faith took a step back, regarding Kendra for a moment. She had picked up her bag again, but just stood there. Letting Kendra's words sink in. Wanting to believe them. Kendra must have realized the effect her words were having.  
  
"Or was dat just all talk?" she challenged.  
  
Which struck a cord in Faith and she lifted her chin a little and her eyebrows narrowed. Maybe this Slayer did know a thing a two more than Faith first thought.  
  
With her breathing slowing down, Faith noticed how her heart was hammering inside her chest. And with that sound, she closed her eyes and remembered how hard it had been beating when she was forced to watch Kakistos torture and kill her Watcher. And all the blood.  
  
Faith shook her head, and escaped the memory by opening her eyes, refusing to let the fear get the better of her again. And she met Kendra's gaze. That calm expression. Those stoic eyes, which did have that gleam of power behind them that gave a sense that she would always know what to do. Trained for every situation.  
  
Hell, Faith told herself, Kendra's Watcher had died and she was still alive.  
  
Was Kendra really so conditioned that she knew no fear? Faith wondered. After discovering her own powers, Faith had stopped being afraid. Even after all the vampires and demons she had slain over the summer, none of them had frightened her to the point of panic. None of them except Kakistos.  
  
He was just a vampire, she told herself. Okay, he was bigger, older, and much stronger than most vampires, but he was still just another no-good bloodsucker that would die with a piece of wood struck through his heart. Just like all the rest.  
  
"I don't talk to impress anybody," Faith finally said.  
  
Kendra just nodded.  
  
"And my name's `Faith'."  
  
This caught Kendra off guard. "What?"  
  
"Fai-th. With the `th' sound. You keep saying `Fate'."  
  
"Faith," Kendra tried.  
  
Faith shook her head, grinning. "I gotta tell you, Ken, that accent can be a real guy-magnet if you let it. But you got to learn how to say your friends' names correctly."  
  
Now it was Kendra's turn to regard Faith, and Faith realized Kendra was reacting to Faith saying they were friends.  
  
"I'll do me best," Kendra finally said, not actually smiling.  
  
Faith nodded. "Good."  
  
"And *my* name is `Kendra',"  
  
Faith winced. "Touche'."  
  
"*Fate.*"  
  
Faith almost chuckled. "Okay, how 'bout this? I'll call you `Ken' until you can say my name right."  
  
Kendra narrowed her eyes a little. Then she sighed and said, "I accept yer terms."  
  
Faith frowned. " `You accept my terms?' " She chuckled. "Girlfriend, we have got to do something about that."  
  
"About what?"  
  
"You're a Slayer. You can't go around saying crap like `I accept your terms.' You gotta come off sounding cool. Part of the gig and all. When you acknowledge someone, say something like `cool,' `bitchin,' `five by five,' `dude." She shook her head. "Even `cowabunga' would be cooler. And *that's* really saying something."  
  
"Whatever," Kendra said, impatiently.  
  
Faith beamed. "See? You're already getting it! Now all we have to do is *get* you some and your journey towards the Dark Side will be complete."  
  
"We should head back to de library," Kendra turned towards the door and Faith started to walk with her, letting her bag drop to the floor. "Mr. Giles is talking to yer Watcher. Together dey can decide--"  
  
Kendra stopped when she realized Faith had stopped walking. She turned and saw the brunette was staring at her with wide-eyes and open mouth. If Kendra thought Faith had been shocked to hear Kakistos' name, she looked three times that right now.  
  
"What did you say?" Faith demanded, her tone low and dangerous.  
  
Kendra was suddenly unsure. Faith's reaction completely puzzled her.  
  
"Yer Watcher," Kendra said, "Mr. Giles--"  
  
"YOU'RE A LIAR!!!" Faith suddenly screamed.  
  
Before Kendra could respond, she was slammed back against the wall, hitting so hard the impact cracked the plaster around her body and a support board hidden behind it. Pain shot from the spot where her spine hit the board and split the wooden beam in half. Kendra fell forward, away from the concaved dent, and her cheek hit the ugly carpet of the motel room.  
  
Through the haze of her pain and the dizziness she was feeling, Kendra could still hear Faith yelling, though it didn't seem as loud as it had been.  
  
"I thought I could trust you!" Faith screamed.  
  
Kendra tried to lift her head, but was finding that a very difficult task to accomplish at the moment.  
  
"What?! You were trying to be my friend so you can use me as bait? Is that it?" Faith demanded. "Well, that ain't gonna happen!"  
  
Kendra finally managed to raise her head enough to see Faith's bag being yanked from off the floor and she saw Faith's legs move in a near run as she left the room. Slamming the door shut behind her. The bang echoing loudly in the now empty room.  
  
Empty except for Kendra.  
  
And the Slayer's eyes closed as her head sank back to the floor.  
  
  
***  
  
  
When she opened her eyes again, she was looking at the same ugly --and not just rough-looking-- carpet of the motel room.  
  
Kendra started to push herself off the floor, but clenched her teeth with the pain that let her know it was still there keeping her spine company.  
  
"Ouch. That must've hurt," a voice said, somewhere above her.  
  
Ignoring the pain, Kendra suddenly rolled away from the voice and was on her knees in a flash, her back coming up against the door of the motel room.  
  
The schoolgirl --demon, Kendra corrected herself-- Anya, was sitting calmly on the edge of the bed. Her chin was on her fists as she rested her elbows on her knees. As if she had been watching Kendra while she was out.  
  
A second later, a stake was occupying Kendra's hand.  
  
Anya sat up, showing her empty hands. "Hey. It's just me, okay?"  
  
Kendra stood, raising the wooden weapon, ready to attack.  
  
"That was supposed to make you not attack me," Anya said, as if Kendra should know that.  
  
"Why shouldn't I?" Kendra asked, taking a step towards her.  
  
"For the same reason you didn't tell you're Watcher about me," Anya offered.  
  
This stopped the Slayer in her tracks.  
  
Anya smiled. "In fact, you haven't told anyone about me have you? Because you're curious about me. You've never met a demon like me before."  
  
Kendra didn't reply, but she lowered her stake.  
  
Anya's smile deflated. "Oh, the silent treatment again."  
  
"What do ye want?" Kendra demanded.  
  
Anya let her shoulders sag. "I thought we already covered this ground."  
  
"Ye told me ye were going to tell me everyting about you next time," Kendra reminded her.  
  
Anya raised a finger. "I didn't say I was going to tell you everything. I just said I wasn't going to give away everything all at once." She scowled playfully at her. "Pay attention."  
  
"I tink I want to know now." Kendra raised the stake again and took another step closer to the bed.  
  
Anya seemed unconcerned by this. "But if you kill me --oh, forgive me-- slay me, you'll never reach your friend in time to save her."  
  
This stopped Kendra again. "What?"  
  
Anya frowned with false concern, "You didn't forget her already, did you? Dark hair. Cute." Anya glanced at the dent in the wall. "Very unpleasant." She glanced over her shoulder at the bed she was sitting on. "Not very chaste."  
  
"Ye can't know dat." Kendra said.  
  
This seemed to amuse Anya. "Oh, like I couldn't know that you didn't tell your Watcher about me, or your friends. Or that Kakistos is dead." She studied the Slayer's expression, even though Kendra tried to give nothing away she knew the demon knew she believed what the creature was saying.  
  
"If Kakistos is dead," Kendra said, "den Faith is in no danger."  
  
"And what do you suppose could destroy a powerful vampire like Kakistos?" Anya said, rubbing her chin thoughtfully.  
  
"Where is she?" Kendra demanded.  
  
"I could tell you where she is now," Anya nodded, "but by the time you get there, she'll be gone. So I'll tell you where she's going to be."  
  
"Tell me!"  
  
"In just a moment." Anya stood and paced slowly to the other side of the room. Kendra never took her eyes off her. "First you have to figure out how you're going to earn back her trust. Oh, which, by the way I was very impressed how you did that just a while ago." More to herself, but making sure Kendra heard her, "And your friends thought you didn't have the people skills to talk to her." With a glance to Kendra, "Well, boo on them I say."  
  
She stopped when she was in front of Kendra again. "Though you should have waited until after Giles talked to Faith's Watcher."  
  
By this point Kendra stopped asking herself how this demon could know all these things, such as her friend's names. Clearly it was some kind of clairvoyant or second sight demon.  
  
"Then you would have known that her Watcher was dead," Anya added. "That Kakistos tortured and killed her while he forced Faith to watch."  
  
Kendra could not keep the shock out of her expression. Of the grave mistake she had just committed and --if what this creature said was true-- maybe fatal mistake.  
  
"That was a rather important piece of information you probably should have had," Anya said. "Don't you think?"  
  
Kendra had to fight to keep her composure. Not only had she caused more damage than she thought possible, but it could have easily been avoided had she not reacted to what she had overheard while standing outside the library.  
  
Reacted emotionally, she realized.  
  
And she couldn't blame it on this demon, and what it told her yesterday in the hall. Nor could she fault Faith and the way she had acted last night on patrol, letting the other Slayer's words get to her. Faith was just being Faith. Who was comfortable with her emotions --however reckless they were to her duty-- who knew how to be with boys. Who could talk to them without so much as flinching.  
  
Kendra was brought out of her thoughts when she noticed that Anya had stopped talking. The demon girl was staring intently at her.  
  
"My," Anya said, "the thoughts that must be going through your mind right now."  
  
"Can ye not see what I'm tinking?" Kendra said.  
  
Anya smiled at her. "I'm afraid I don't work that way."  
  
"And how do ye work? By causing dese problems and watching us for yer amusement?"  
  
"*You* are the only one I'm watching," Anya said, taking another step closer. "Oh, I'll admit that I am causing some problems, but not where you're concerned. You're more of a special interest and I very much would like to see how your story turns out. But my other project is starting to move much faster now and time is running short. Which is why I'm gonna help you this one time."  
  
"Why do I interest you so much?" Kendra asked.  
  
Anya just smiled. "I think that's enough information for now. I'll tell you the rest when I see you again. After it's over. Assuming you're still alive."  
  
Anya took a step back as if to turn away, but stopped and looked at Kendra again. "I just had a thought on how you could relate to Faith better. Why not tell her how your first Watcher died?"  
  
Kendra was not aware of her actions until after her fist struck Anya across the face with as much power as she could put behind it. The demon was rocked by the blow and staggered back a few steps. But surprisingly, she stayed on her feet and when she regained her balance, she just smiled at Kendra. For the first time, the Slayer was not trying to hide her emotions, letting the raw anger she was feeling bubble up to the surface. As she stood there, breathing heavy, her body trembling, she saw that Anya didn't seem too concerned.  
  
"You're right," the demon said mildly. "You're absolutely right. What was I thinking? After all, her Watcher was killed by a monster, whereas yours . . ."  
  
She let her voice trail off, watching Kendra's expression and Kendra suddenly felt heavy, as if a large block of concrete had just settled in her chest. Or more accurately, where her heart was supposed to be. And she knew what to call that heavy block.  
  
Fear.  
  
She was no longer trembling because of her rage and she couldn't stop.  
  
Anya grinned, taking delight in seeing the young Slayer suffer. "Well . . . let's just say he wasn't killed by a monster."  
  
In a shaky voice, "Get away from me," Kendra struggled.  
  
Anya raised her hands. "Alright. I'm going." She started to back away as if to leave, even though Kendra stood between her and the door. "You have enough to worry about right now as it is, no need to add to that."  
  
With her next step backwards, Kendra saw that the air around Anya seemed to be pulled, as if she were pressing against a clear plastic barrier. But instead of coming through on the other side, the demon was disappearing as the space around her started to close in front of her. Right before she vanished completely, Anya said, "Oh, and you can find Faith at the high school. Whether you reach her in time is entirely up to y--"  
  
Then she was gone. There was a soft flash of light as the space she just passed through refilled itself and a ripple spread from that point, as if across the surface of a smooth pond, starting out as a large wave but becoming smaller and more invisible as it continued to spread and pass through the walls, floor, bed, and tv of the motel room.  
  
Then there was nothing left to mark the demon's strange exit.  
  
Kendra looked around the room, finding herself alone once again. She took a step back and her knees almost buckled. Then she turned and ran out of the motel room, but her legs didn't seem to be working right. She stumbled into the parking lot and leaned her palms on the hood of the the nearest car, gulping huge lungfuls of fresh air, having to close her eyes when everything started to spin.  
  
But with her eyes closed, she was assualted with images she had no desire to see. Memories she had, over the past two months, tried her damnedest to destroy from her mind. Kept telling herself they served no purpose. A Slayer needed only what was necessary to do her duty. But she could not keep the images away and each one hit her like a sledgehammer to the stomach.  
  
....waking up on the floor  
  
....in the only home she had known since as long as she could remember  
  
....surrounded by blood  
  
....Mr. Zabuto standing on the other side of the room  
  
Mr. Zabuto . . .  
  
When Kendra opened her eyes again, she found herself sitting on the pavement, her knees curled up to her chest as she leaned against the fender of the car.  
  
  
  
  
End of Part Eighteen  
  
  
  
  
********  
  
  
  
  
SECOND THREAD: Part Nineteen  
  
  
  
  
  
"What are you doing here!?" Buffy demanded.  
  
Joyce looked at her daughter, taken aback.  
  
"Buffy," she said, glancing back at Faith. The brunette just shrugged innocently. "I invited her to dinner."  
  
Buffy gaped at her mother. "You invited--?"  
  
"Buffy, it's not like we haven't had Faith over for dinner before," Joyce said. "I know it's been awhile but I thought this would be the perfect time to get together."  
  
"Yeah, but--"  
  
"Especially after last night."  
  
This stopped Buffy. Then she asked, "What happened last night?"  
  
Faith shook most of the water off the head of lettuce and brought it over to the island counter, setting it on a cutting board. She was acting as if nothing in the world was wrong. At least, not where she and Buffy was concerned. Faith glanced at Joyce then looked at Buffy.  
  
"Oh, it was nothing, really," she said, nonchalantly.  
  
"Nothing?" Joyce grinned. She turned to her daughter. "I wouldn't exactly call saving my life nothing."  
  
"What!?" Buffy exclaimed. "What happened?"  
  
"Calm down, sweetheart," Joyce said. "It was just a couple of vampires. They jumped me while I was leaving the gallery last night."  
  
"My God," Buffy blanched.  
  
"But everything's fine," Joyce told her, seeing her daughter's expression. "Faith happened to be in the area and came to my rescue. They didn't even get a chance to lay a hand on me." She smiled a little humorously with a glance at Faith. "Though one of them was close enough for me to smell his breath."  
  
Faith grinned. "I'll try not to cut it so close next time."  
  
"Not that I really want there to be a next time."  
  
But Buffy was still staring at Faith, finding none of this amusing.  
  
"Faith just *happened* to be there," Buffy didn't try to hide the scorn in her tone.  
  
"Yes." Joyce frowned at her. "Are you all right? You look a little tired."  
  
"Yeah, B," Faith chipped in. "Rough night?"  
  
Buffy shot a glare in Faith's direction and the brunette raised her hands. "Sorry I asked."  
  
"Buffy, what's wrong?"  
  
Buffy looked at her mother, saw the concern on her face, then glanced at Faith. The other Slayer revealed nothing from her expression, as if waiting to see what Buffy would do. She returned her gaze to her mother and released a breath.  
  
"I guess I am kinda tired."  
  
"Well, why don't you go upstairs and wash up and Faith and I will finish dinner?"  
  
"No!" At the look Joyce and Faith gave her, Buffy lowered her voice. "Uh, I mean, I'm fine. I can still help you guys. You know, Slayer constitution and all. We can go on for hours without a break." Then Buffy frowned at her own words. "And when I say `go on', I mean, like on patrol and . . ." She saw the "oh, really?" look Faith was giving her. "And things like . . that. And not in a more . . ."  
  
"I know what you meant, honey," Joyce said, not succeeding very well in hiding the smile.  
  
"Oh, I wonder what's been on Buffy's mind lately," Faith teased.  
  
Even as she glared at the brunette, Buffy felt her cheeks become flushed.  
  
"I'm going to wash up," Buffy said and turned to leave.  
  
She was actually a step out of the kitchen when she suddenly remembered the situation and whirled around. "No!" At the surprised look Faith and Joyce gave her, she quickly said, "I mean, I'll wash my hands here. In the sink." They continued to look at her. Buffy pointed weakly at the sink in question. "Over there?"  
  
Joyce exchanged another glance with Faith, then said, "That's fine, sweetie."  
  
Joyce turned her attention to the sauce pan, sprinkling in a dash of spice. Buffy groaned inwardly. Great, she thought, not only did she have to keep her eye on Faith, but her mother was probably wondering if her only daughter was finally losing it. As she rounded the island counter, she did keep her eyes on Faith. But the brunette didn't look at her as she past by. A million questions were going through her mind. Foremost was what was Faith even doing here? But as long as the other Slayer didn't do anything hostile Buffy was perfectly fine with that. The idea of having a big Slayer brawl right in the middle of the kitchen didn't really appeal to her, especially with her mother so close by. And Joyce didn't know the deal with Faith so she may actually get in the middle of it to try and stop them.  
  
Buffy was almost to the sink when she saw Faith pick up a large kitchen knife which had been out of Buffy's sight on the other side of the cutting board.  
  
Buffy immediately jumped back, putting herself between Faith and her mother. But in the process, bumped into Joyce's back.  
  
"Buffy!" her mother exclaimed. "Careful!"  
  
Faith looked at Buffy but didn't say anything.  
  
"You nearly knocked me into the stove."  
  
Buffy stepped away from her mother but kept herself in between them. "Sorry, Mom. Guess my coordination is a little off today."  
  
Faith used the knife to slice the head of lettuce in half, then proceeded to chop it into smaller pieces.  
  
"Did something happen last night while you were on patrol?" Joyce asked, even more concerned than ever.  
  
Buffy finally took her eyes off Faith. "No. No, I swear. I'm fine."  
  
But her mother didn't really look convinced. "You sure?"  
  
"Yes." she gave her mother a smile. "Just need to get out of Slayer mode, you know."  
  
Joyce narrowed her eyebrows. "You were in Slayer mode in school?"  
  
"No! Of course not. Just residual Slayerness left over from last night."  
  
"So you were still in Slayer mode in school," Joyce reinforced.  
  
"No." Buffy's shoulders sagged. "It's coming out all wrong. I can't really explain what it's like, uh . . . Tell her Faith."  
  
Faith just gave them a quick glance. "She was in Slayer mode in school."  
  
"Big help," Buffy murmured, but took slight comfort in the fact that she did have plans on killing the other Slayer soon. Or did she? she suddenly thought. This wasn't exactly how Buffy pictured Faith coming after her mother.  
  
Whatever was up Faith's sleeve, it could not be good.  
  
Then she became aware that her mother was still looking at her.  
  
"Maybe you should go upstairs and take a quick shower?" she suggested. "Unwind."  
  
Great idea, Buffy thought. But as long as Faith was in the house there was no chance of Buffy letting her guard down, let alone relax alittle.  
  
"I'm fine," Buffy said, in the most reassuring tone she could muster.  
  
Joyce put the back of her hand against Buffy's forehead. Buffy reflexively rolled her eyes. "You should take the night off from patrolling."  
  
Buffy looked at Faith's back. "Actually, I did plan on staying in tonight."  
  
"Good. You can catch up on your sleep." Joyce turned back to the stove.  
  
Buffy stood in front of the sink and quickly washed her hands, but kept glancing over her shoulder at Faith. The brunette continued to chop lettuce. Buffy grabbed a handtowel and was drying her hands when she turned around.  
  
Her breath caught in her throat when she saw Faith look in her mother's direction. She was now chopping the other half of the lettuce head. Buffy spied the knife block on the counter next to the sink and kept her eyes on Faith as she reached for one of the handles.  
  
Even though she slid the knife out as silently as she could, Buffy saw Faith raise her head and she stopped chopping. The other Slayer didn't look back but Buffy saw Faith's hand tighten around the knife she was holding. Again, it was as if she was waiting for Buffy to make the first move.  
  
"Buffy, what are you doing?" Joyce's voice cut through.  
  
Buffy looked at her mother. "Oh, I thought I would help Faith with the salad."  
  
Joyce gave her a wry look. "With a meat cleaver?"  
  
Buffy looked down at the knife in her hand for the first time. "Uh . . ." Then she frowned. "When did we get this?"  
  
"Two years ago when I bought the whole set," Joyce said, dubiously.  
  
"Well this is the first time I noticed it," Buffy tried to sound nonchalant as she returned it to the block and started to reach for another knife. "I'll just--"  
  
"You can just help me drain the pasta," Joyce finished.  
  
Holding the handles with potholders Joyce lifted it off the stove and held it out to her daughter. Wanting to keep her hands free, Buffy hesitated. But her mother still had that "my daughter needs a straight-jacket" expression on her face, so reluctantly accepted it.  
  
As she turned towards the sink, she glanced over her shoulder at Faith, and the other Slayer was now dicing a tomato.  
  
God, this was going to be a long night, Buffy thought.  
  
  
***  
  
  
Parked three houses away on the other side of the street, Dectective Stein took a sip from his coffee that had gone cold about an hour ago. And it had nearly been that long since Faith had entered the Summers house. The Summers girl herself had only come home a few minutes ago.  
  
Buffy had walked past the car on the other side of the street, and Stein thought for sure that she would see him. But she never truned her head. She had looked as if she had a lot on her mind.  
  
Well, if I had just committed a murder I guess I would be preoccupied, too, he thought, sourly.  
  
The sun was now completely set. He glanced at his watch and wondered how long the girls would stay inside. Since he had followed the Summers girl last night, he was actually tailing Faith tonight, but was surprised when she lead him here. Maybe this would be the night he would get a break in the case? Especially if they went out together.  
  
From what information he gathered when the case was still open, he learned that the two seemed to be nearly inseparable, but ever since the night of the murder, he had never seen the two of them together.  
  
The strain of the cover-up may be getting to them.  
  
The first night he had tried to follow Faith, he discovered that she was no longer staying in the run-down motel. In fact, he found out she had moved to a brand new top-floor apartment in town. Which helped to prove his theory that these girls had been paid for the murder. But from the looks of things, Faith seemed to be the only one enjoying the fruits of the deed. Perhaps Buffy was feeling guilty about what she did and had refused the money? Or maybe she was cut out of her share? Either way it did make her the weakest link and allowed the possibility of turning her against Faith.  
  
With the black mark by his name, Stein had very few friends left on the Force, but he still had those who owed him favors. Right now he was having one of those favors called in. A second class detective, Clark, was running down Faith's new address for him, find out how she was paying for it and where she got the money from. Detective Clark may actually be the only cop left that he trusted. And with things the way they were, he hoped he hadn't dragged the younger man in over his head. But he couldn't do this by himself.  
  
And for some reason, Stein had the surreal impression that somehow this was going to end tonight.  
  
  
  
  
End of Part Ninteen  
  
  
  
  
  
********  
  
  
  
  
  
THIRD THREAD: Part Twenty  
  
  
  
  
  
This was not good, Cordelia thought, as she rounded the corner on Main Street. The sun had set right before she had walked into town. She figured she would be safe enough with all the people that are usually still out around this time. But she was not prepared for what greeted her in Sunnydale. If she thought the school looked bad, then she had severely underestimated the fates that could cause such . . . badness.  
  
Well, technically, she admitted, it was her who had caused all this. Yeah, like I would really know that there was some kind of wish-granting demon disguised as a girl just waiting to grant my wish. Hello! if you're a genie aren't you supposed to tell your master you get three wishes, or how many wishes they offer? she fumed.  
  
Aura must not have been kidding about the curphew thing. The town was practically deserted. A ghost town would be a more accurate description and Main Street seemed to be in the worst shape.  
  
As she crossed in front of the Sun Cinema, she saw that the box office, along with all the other windows were boarded up, the "closed" on the marquee stating the obvious. She was walking briskly down the sidewalk and a loud screeching noise of metal just to her left made her jump, and she saw it was a man pulling a security gate in front of his small shop, with himself safely behind it. He didn't even raise his head to take notice of her. It seemed as if it was the last shop to close for the night. All the other shops were either secured with their own security bars are boarded up entirely.  
  
Codrelia stepped off the sidewalk and started to cross the street. She didn't have to worry about looking both ways, from the way the fallen leaves littered the street, it didn't look as if many cars past through town. She saw a wrecked car parked just on the other side of the street, its roof completely caved in. It looked like it had been there for awhile, even though she knew the town had not been like this only yesterday.  
  
She seemed to be the only one in town right now.  
  
She did hear sirens off in the distance and someone was screaming much closer, but Cordelia couldn't really tell where it was coming from. She tried to pick up her pace. If she walked any faster it would qualify as running.  
  
She was almost to the sidewalk when somebody was suddenly standing in front of her.  
  
With a gasp, she jumped back, but quickly realized she recognized the person. In fact, knew him very well.  
  
Xander Harris looked her up and down. The bright color of her dress seemed to catch his attention.  
  
"Well, whadaya know?" he said, casually. "Cordelia Chase."  
  
Though shocked at seeing him, Cordelia noticed that he was dressed in black. Leather boots, leather pants, and a leather coat over a white T-shirt, which was just a few shades lighter than his flesh.  
  
"What is this?" she demanded. "Some kind of sick joke? Harmony told me you were dead."  
  
Xander was now looking at her face. "Now, why would she say something like that?" There was a hint of humor in his eyes as he began to ponder that. "Let's think . . ."  
  
Despite everything he had done to her lately, how he hurt her, Cordelia was just glad to find someone who could help her. "Listen to me. We have to find Buffy. She'll figure out a way to save us. She was supposed to be here and, as much as it kills me to admit it . . . things were better when she was around."  
  
Now Xander really was pondering her words. "Buffy? The Slayer?"  
  
Was he kiddin'? Cordelia thought. "No! Buffy the Dog-Faced Girl! Duh! Who do you think I'm talking about?"  
  
Before he could answer, a voice came from the shadows.  
  
"Bored now."  
  
Stepping out into the sidewalk, the first thing Cordelia saw was a pair of slim leather-clad legs walking slowly towards them. And the leather continued up into a corset shaped torso all the way to the bust line which was trimmed with red fringe. But it wasn't the outfit which stunned Cordelia, it was the fact that Willow Rosenberg was the one wearing it.  
  
Not only did the redhead look comfortable in it, it was as if it was made especially for her. Her flesh was also much paler than Cordelia remembered.  
  
"This is the part that's less fun," Willow said, in a slow, playful voice. "When there isn't any screaming."  
  
She walked up close to Xander, putting her arm around him and bringing her other hand up to his chest.  
  
Cordelia frowned at them. "What's up with you two and the leather?"  
  
But they weren't paying any attention to her. Willow just smiled gleefully up at Xander. "Play now?"  
  
"It's not that I don't appreciate your appetite, Will, but I thought we agreed it was my turn," he replied.  
  
Willow pouted at him, making a small puppy-whining sound, and Cordelia noticed the casual way the redhead was caressing Xander's chest, and her jaw dropped as she realized . . .  
  
"No. No! No way!" she protested. "I wish us into Bizarro Land, and you guys are still together?!"  
  
The couple hardly gave her a glance as they contined to gaze deeply into each other's eyes.  
  
In disbelief, Cordelia concluded, "I cannot win!"  
  
"Probably not," Xander said, still looking at Willow. Then slowly turned his head in her direction. Horrified, she watched his features morph into that of a vampire. "But I'll give you a head start," he said around his fangs.  
  
A scream caught in her throat, as Cordelia jumped back. Then she whirled around, dropping her purse, and fled back up the street the way she came. Xander and Willow made no move to pursue her.  
  
"I love this part," Willow said.  
  
Xander looked down at her, and lowered his head and they kissed just as deeply as they had been looking into each other's eyes. Willow giving him her tongue to play with. Xander finally pulled away and looked after Cordelia.  
  
"You love all the parts," he reminded her.  
  
He was suddenly moving, practically flying down the street, quickly closing the distance between himself and Cordelia. Willow followed in a casual stride and watched as he leapt onto the flattened car and launched himself into the air. He landed right behind Cordelia and grabbed her by the back of the neck. The brunette didn't have time to react before he threw her face first onto the pavement and she rolled on the street until she stopped, lying flat on her stomach, unconscious.  
  
Disappointed, Willow walked up behind Xander, who was standing over Cordelia. "No fun. She didn't even hardly fight."  
  
They were bathed in a bright light as a vehicle came screeching from around the corner. Seeing it was a large blue van, Xander sighed.  
  
"Aw, swell. It's the White Hats."  
  
Willow stayed close to Xander as the van screeched to a halt right in front of them. The passenger door flew open and the school librarian, Mr. Giles, hopped out brandishing a large wooden cross forcing her and Xander to back away from the Chase girl. Behind the Englishman, she saw a student, Oz, behind the wheel aiming a large crossbow at them. The sliding door opened next and two more students jumped out. That beef-aloid of a jock, Larry, who had terrorized her Xander when they were younger and . . . well, alive. Xander once told her that he had something special planned for Larry, just waiting for the right moment. The other was a girl Willow only knew by name. Nancy. They were armed with a stake and cross, ready to fight if necessary, but the librarian's cross kept them back.  
  
"I've got them!" Giles told them, not taking his eyes off the vampires. "Get the girl!"  
  
The two teens lifted Cordelia off the pavement and carried her into the van, climbing in again. Oz lowered the crossbow as Giles got back in as well, and had the van peeling out before the passenger door was closed.  
  
Willow and Xander could only watch as the van sped down the street and disappeared around the next corner.  
  
  
  
  
  
End of Part Twenty  
  



	6. Parts 21 - 22

FIRST THREAD: Part Twenty-One  
  
  
  
  
"Damn," Faith muttered, as she slowed to a stop.  
  
Turning in place, she checked her surroundings. The sun was well past set and the sliver of the moon in the sky did not add anymore illumination to that provided by the weak and sparse streetlights. She also wasn't sure how far she had run since leaving the motel. She was sure Kendra would come after her, but after almost half an hour there was still no sign of the other Slayer.  
  
Maybe I hit her harder than I thought? she wondered. But then any concern she might have felt quickly faded when she remembered why she had run.  
  
"How could I have been so stupid?" she whispered to herself. To be lured in like that. Faith did come to Sunnydale looking for help but she thought she would have more time before Kakistos and his pack showed up, to figure a way to bring up the subject. But somehow Kendra and her Watcher found out about Kakistos and figured he was after her. They didn't even know Kakistos had killed her Watcher.  
  
But there was something tugging at the back her mind, that wasn't adding up. All she knew that it was better to not be around when the trouble started. If Kendra thought she could take Kakistos, Faith was more than willing to let her try.  
  
And it looked like she was almost back to town. But where to go from there? she thought.  
  
There was always the bus station, she figured, but then remembered her current status of not having any money. It was still too early to break into a store or filling station. Back when she had been stealing, during her cross-country trek, she would wait until the place closed before busting in. Sure there was hardly any money but it would usually be enough and she would stock up on other supplies to last until she reached the next town.  
  
But with Kakistos here she didn't really feel like waiting until all the stores closed, and the vamp would probably have one of his flunkies watching the bus station anyway. If she remembered correctly, there was also a train station, but that would probably be watched too. However, it would be easier sneaking on board a train without being seen, so that was her best bet and she didn't even need any money for that.  
  
What she did need, though, was weapons. And she knew exactly where to get those.  
  
She picked up her pace again. Once she hit town, she would head straight for the high school. She just needed to get there before Kendra did.  
  
  
******  
  
  
"That must be the motel," Giles said, as he pulled his old Citroen into the parking lot.  
  
"Yeah, but which room is she staying in?" Willow said.  
  
"You don't know?"  
  
"Hey," Willow sounded slightly offended, "Just because I have a four point grade average doesn't mean I have a photographic memory. And Faith only mentioned her place once . . . and come to think of it, I don't think she actually told us what room number she was staying in, so I think--"  
  
"Willow." Giles was looking forward and pointed.  
  
"What?" Willow looked and saw he was indicating an opened door that was pratically in front of the space they pulled into. She exchanged a look with the Watcher. "Wanna bet money that's Faith's room?"  
  
"I doubt there's a bet there," commented Giles.  
  
He and the teenager climbed out of the car and approached the room, warily. Giles stepped to the door first, rapping his knuckles lightly on the door, as they peered inside.  
  
"Hello?"  
  
"Faith?" Willow called.  
  
They stepped inside and saw that the room seemed deserted, even though the lights were still on.  
  
"Kendra? Looks like nobody's hom--"  
  
The redhead trailed off as she and Giles saw the large dent in the wall. They were silent for a moment, contemplating what this meant.  
  
"I take it Kendra's intervention with Faith didn't go over too well," Willow finally commented. Giles just raised his eyebrows with a slight tilt of his head in response.  
  
Willow sighed and noticed the closed door on the other side of the room. "I'll check the bathroom."  
  
Giles just nodded and looked around the room again. Willow doubted very much that anyone would actually be in the bathroom. Then a sudden image of Kendra lying unconscious on the bathroom floor flashed in her mind. She opened the door and quickly flipped on the light. Seeing it was empty, Willow breathed a sigh of relief. She was turning off the light again when--  
  
"Willow!" Giles gasped.  
  
Willow spun around and was shocked to see Giles clutching at the strong hand that was wrapped around his neck. But what was even more shocking was who was standing behind the Watcher.  
  
"Spike!"  
  
Leading Giles ahead of him, Spike took a few more steps into the room allowing the four vampires with him to step inside.  
  
"Hello, Willow," Spike said. "My, have you grown. You look even more tasty than last I saw you."  
  
Though disgusted by the way the blonde vamp was looking at her, her concern for Giles kept her from responding. Spike's grip tighten and Giles gagged, though the Watcher was trying to show as little pain as possible.  
  
"And how is Buffy?" Spike asked, conversationally. "Still dead I take it?"  
  
"Bastard!" Giles spat, through his constricted throat.  
  
Spike shoved Giles forward and the man slammed into the TV knocking it and its stand over as he tumbled to the floor. There was a spark and a cloud of smoke as the screen shattered. Willow quickly knelt beside Giles and helped him to a sitting position as he coughed, trying to catch his breath.  
  
"What do you want?" Willow demanded.  
  
"Mostly to kill you," Spike said, matter-of-factly. "But I didn't expect to find you here." He glanced at the damaged wall. "Who's your decorator?" Then what little humor in his expression faded completely. "Where's Faith?"  
  
Giles and Willow exhanged a look. Still rubbing his throat, Giles looked up at Spike. "Forgive me for sounding like the cliche'd captive . . . but who?"  
  
Spike must have been expecting this kind response, for his expression didn't change. "Well, allow me to play the cliche'd captor." He took a threatening step towards them.  
  
Willow frantically grabbed the side of Giles' coat, lying open, and felt for the inside pocket. There was something there and she plunged her hand in and pulled out a pen, instantly dropped it, and was reaching into the pocket again when Giles lifted his other hand.  
  
"This?" he said, holding a small wooden cross.  
  
Willow snatched it out of his hand. "It would help you know," she scolded him.  
  
"Sorry," he replied softly.  
  
Willow raised the cross up at Spike as the blonde stopped right in front of them. Then she realized he wasn't flinching away from the holy symbol, however, the vampires behind him did take a step back. In fact, it was as if it wasn't affecting him at all. She kept the cross pointed at him and the vampire casually knelt down on one knee and it was only inches in front of his face now.  
  
"Uh, Giles?" she said, in a worried tone. "Do crosses have expiration dates on them?"  
  
"Not that I'm aware of," Giles said, just as concerned now.  
  
"Maybe you should put that down, eh?" Spike suggested.  
  
Willow thrust the cross closer and this time Spike did flinch a little, but only because it nearly hit him in the face. His hand shot up and snatched Willow's wrist and the redhead gasped and the cross dropped from her hand when he squeezed. He released her and she tucked her arm against her chest, holding her wrist, tears in her eyes.  
  
"Are you all right?" Giles asked.  
  
She just nodded, because she wasn't sure she'd be able to say anything without starting to cry and she did not want to give Spike that satisfaction. Then she and Giles watched as Spike picked up the cross in his bare hand and tossed it under the bed. They could only stare at him with wide eyes and Willow noticed for the first time that Spike's long leather coat seemed a little on the charred side. Almost as if he had caught on fire. In fact, there was a burnt smell coming from it, as if it had just recently happened.  
  
"But how is it possible?" Giles asked, his curiousity getting the better of him.  
  
Spike just grinned. "You Watcher-types are supposed to be so smart. You tell me."  
  
"A vampire who isn't hurt by crosses . . . or fire?" Willow ventured. Spike didn't say anything, but from his expression she knew it was true. "What about stakes? Holy water?"  
  
Still, the blonde vampire didn't answer, but over his shoulder, Willow saw that the other vampires were listening in apt attention. Especially the black vampire in the sharp suit -- and she would also bet that there was a limo parked outside.  
  
"Nor sunlight," Giles stated, and from his expression, Willow could tell that he knew something. "The Gem of Amarra."  
  
"Good on you," Spike said. "I see you haven't lost your Watcher touch after all. I'd've thought for sure you would've retired after Buffy kicked it."  
  
Willow saw Giles' expression become hard again, but she was sure there was an underlining pain there. Recognized it, actually, because she carried that same pain, as did Xander and the others. But she thought she saw something else there in his reaction to Spike's words and she wondered if Giles had considered retiring or even leaving Sunnydale all together. He had never mentioned anything to her or the others, but then from the awful night in the library till they had rescued Giles that night on patrol they had been out of touch. A lot could have happened during those weeks.  
  
"A gem?" Willow spoke up.  
  
"Purported to make any vampire in possession of it impervious to any harm," Giles explained, not taking his eyes off Spike. "It was thought to be a myth. The Holy Grail for vampires, so to speak."  
  
"What does it look like?" She tried to make it sound as unimportant as possible.  
  
Spike, knowing what she was doing, found this amusing and drummed his fingers on the knee his hand was resting on. Willow thought he wasn't going to answer the question when she finally noticed the ring on the finger on that hand. She exchanged another look with Giles who was looking at the ring as well.  
  
"Right then," Spike said, "Now that we're through getting re-acquainted and all, let's get back to the matter at hand, eh? Where did your Faith run off to?"  
  
"We don't know," Willow said. Giles shot her a look. "Well we don't. In this case telling the truth can't hurt us."  
  
"Except relieve us of any value whatsoever we might be to Spike alive," Giles replied mildly.  
  
Willow's jaw dropped, and it was a few seconds before she could say, "Oh."  
  
Spike chuckled. "Normally, that would be true. But lucky for you there's also Kendra to deal with. She wouldn't dare attack us while we have you hostage."  
  
Giles considered those words for a moment. "So Kakistos wants Kendra as well."  
  
Spike seemed offended by this. "That rusty bloke isn't running the show anymore, as the boys here can attest to." Then the anger left his face and Willow could practically see his mind working. "So that's why she ran off, eh? She knows Kakistos was here." He looked over his shoulder at the vampire in the suit.  
  
"She's probably outside the city limits by now," the vamp said. "if she sticks to her usual pattern."  
  
Spike returned his gaze to Willow and Giles. "Which leaves only one Slayer to defend the whole town."  
  
"Don't underestimate Faith as a Slayer," Giles interjected. "She came to us for help. It's the very reason she came to Sunnydale in the first place."  
  
Willow knew he was bluffing --which he was very good at-- but did her best not to let her expression give anything away, and just tried to look scared --which *she* was very good at.  
  
It didn't look as if Spike was completely convinced, as he regarded them. Then he glanced at the cracked dent in the wall again. "Even so," he finally said, "that doesn't change our plans."  
  
"Which are?" Giles challenged.  
  
"While I'd love to do the villian-tells-all-to-the-good-guys bit," Spike stood. "We don't have time. Cliff notes version . . ."  
  
He reached down. Willow couldn't contain a squeal as he yanked her off the floor. Giles shot to his feet, but Spike grabbed a haldful of his coat with his other hand and tossed him to the other vampire who held the Watcher.  
  
". . . we're taking over the town. We just need to get rid of the meddling element first."  
  
Willow had been right. There was a limo parked outside.  
  
  
*****  
  
  
Xander stepped out of the Bronze for the fifth time tonight. Or was it the sixth? he wondered. He wasn't sure anymore. He had been loitering around the club since early this afternoon, searching all the surrounding alleys and streets for any sign that Buffy was still around. Like what? he asked himself. A strand of blonde hair? Another stake?  
  
His hand closed around the small stake in his pocket. The only evidence he had that he hadn't hallucinated what happened last night.  
  
And once the Bronze had opened, he only stayed inside for about five minutes before coming back outside to search the alleys and streets again. Then he would go back inside and repeated the cycle. If anyone in the club even bothered to care they would probably wonder why he was acting so strangely. But it wouldn't have concerned Xander. He just wanted --needed-- to find out what was going on.  
  
He needed to find Buffy.  
  
But other than standing around waiting for her to pop up again, he didn't have any idea where to find her. She hadn't been a vampire, that he was certain of, so she probably wouldn't be hanging out in the usual vampire haunts. But then again, she had been --is-- a Slayer, and Slayers spend a lot of time in cemeteries anyway. But not during the day.  
  
So after leaving school his first stop had been to the house on Revello Drive.  
  
Which, of course, he had found empty. Which has been void of life for almost four months now. Ever since Mrs. Summers had packed up and left town. It shamed Xander and the others that they hadn't noticed right away that Buffy's mother had left town. It wasn't until about a week after she vacated the house that they finally decided to check up on her. They had later found out from Giles that she had moved back to LA.  
  
His next stop had been the cemetery.  
  
Just as he had seen it last week, the grave was undistrubed. But he had resisted the urge to touch the headstone and had left, coming straight to the Bronze.  
  
So how about coming at this from a scientific stand point, he thought. What would Willow do? What happened at the moment that Buffy first appeared? Well, I was about to be eaten by a vampire chick, he thought, when Buffy came out of nowhere and saved him.  
  
This stopped him in his tracks.  
  
Just like she used to do, he realized.  
  
What if he was able to repeat all the events from last night? he wondered. What, wander around until another vampire attacked him and hope that Buffy will appear again just in time to save him? He scoffed at himself.  
  
"Yeah, right."  
  
But then he stopped again, and considered the thought once more.  
  
"Hmm."  
  
Looking to the right, he saw the same alley where he had been attacked last night. He stood there for a moment just gazing into the darkness.  
  
He looked up and down the street again. He saw a group of teenagers heading towards the Bronze. Other than that, he was the only one outside right now.  
  
Xander turned and disappeared into the alley.  
  
So he didn't see the blue van that pulled up to the Bronze about three minutes later. Oz and Cordelia climbed out and walked inside the club.  
  
  
*****  
  
  
Kendra rounded the next corner and tried to pick up a little more speed as she ran down the next street. But her legs just refused to do what she asked of them.  
  
She didn't know how long she had remained huddled against the car but when she finally forced her body to move, it was as if it was no longer her own. Like she didn't know how to wear her own skin anymore. She was a stranger to herself. Only the knowledge that Faith was in great danger got her to finally move. Otherwise she would have been content to remain where she was until someone, or some thing, found her.  
  
She also didn't know how much of a head start Faith had on her. The logical part of her mind that was still working told Kendra that she shouldn't be taking the word of a demon, but the part of her that was The Slayer, that mystical instinct and strength, let her know that it was true. For whatever reason, Faith would be at the high school, and there she would meet her death.  
  
Unless I can save her, she remembered what Anya had told her.  
  
With her thoughts all over the place, she didn't even notice the twin bright lights bearing down on her, even when the roar of the engine filled her ears.  
  
"KENDRA!"  
  
She finally reacted to the shout of her name, stopping in her tracks, and turned her head. There was a long black limousine barreling down at her, less than twenty meters away. The next second it bounced over the curb of the sidewalk she was standing on and Kendra would have been a rolling tangled mass under its carriage had she not leapt straight up in the air. With her strength, despite the split second warning, her jump would have taken her at least ten feet into the air easily. But her shaky legs slowed her down the fraction of a second that would have taken her clear of the vehicle and she felt one of her legs clipped by the slanted glass of the windshield. The impact didn't really cause her any pain, but it was enough to send the rest of her body slamming down onto the roof of the car, and as the limo continued to speed forward, she tumbled the legnth of its long roof. Until it finally passed beneath her and she landed on the sidewalk on the exact same spot she had been standing.  
  
Now the pain did hit her. She lifted her head and saw the limousine fishtailing in the parking lot, of the convenient store she had been crossing in front of, barely avoiding sideswiping a couple of the parked cars. The back tinted windows were rolled halfway down and Kendra was shocked to see Giles and Willow in the back seat sandwiched between Spike and another vampire, and realized it had been Willow's voice that had shouted the warning. The blonde vampire seemed to be yelling towards the front seat, probably ordering the driver to try running her down again.  
  
Ignoring the pain from her body, she was pushing herself to her knees, when Giles and Willow shouted again. "Kendra, lookout!" she heard Willow as the redhead pointed behind Kendra.  
  
The Slayer didn't even bother to look over her shoulder, she just dove to the side, rolling across the sidewalk. She did catch a glimpse of something big hitting the curb and when she was on her knees again, saw that it was an old Dodge that had nearly run her over. Now the second car screeched across the parking lot, fishtailing, and came to a stop just a couple of feet short of the limo. Spike poked his head out of his window.  
  
"Hey! You wreck my car you pay for it, Lucius!" he shouted. "And then I kill you!"  
  
At the same time, Kendra was getting to her feet, and her left leg buckled when pain shot through her knee. She stumbled but managed to stay on her feet. Then she saw Giles' head appear over Spike's shoulder.  
  
"Run, Kendra!"  
  
"Shut up!" Spike slammed the Watcher back against the seat, then the vampire shouted to the driver of the Dodge again. "Go after her. If she doesn't kill you, meet us at the school."  
  
The Dodge's tires peeled in reverse and the front end angled towards Kendra again, but the Slayer was already moving, heading towards the side of the store. Though she was limping, she was still moving faster than most humans could have with a knee as damaged as hers. As she disappeared down the side alley of the store she saw the limo leaving the parking lot. Then the Dodge filled the mouth of the alley and she tried to pick up a little more speed as she rounded the corner to the back.  
  
An eight foot high chain-link fence bordered the alley, separating it from the wooded area behind the store. And it also deadended. Unfortunately, the car would be on her halfway down the alley. With her injured knee, Kendra knew she wouldn't be able to jump over the fence, but there was dumpster not too far ahead, and when she leapt for it, she thought she felt the hood of the car brush against her boots. When she landed on the closed lids of the metal container she curled her legs up as sparks erupted as the Dodge scraped against the dumpster.  
  
Standing on the container, the fence was now level with her waist, though the alley was about ten feet wide. The landing would be a little rough and would do her knee no good, but she didn't really have much choice as she watched the Dodge screech to a halt. There wasn't enough room for it to make a U-turn but it would still be faster than her in reverse. And as the car started to back up towards her, gaining speed, she realized the driver was intending to ram the dumpster, despite Spike's warning not to damage the car.  
  
Pressing her back against the wall, she took two steps forward, launching herself off with her good leg just an instant before the Dodge slammed into the dumpster. Kendra tucked her legs as she arced over the fence, then uncurled them when the ground came up at her. Prepared for the shock of the landing, she immediately rolled with the impact, her knee letting her know its disapproval not without a little pain.  
  
Kendra came up from the roll and brought her hands up in front of her to keep from hitting a tree face first. Leaning against the trunk, she clenched her teeth as she stood up, keeping most of her weight off her left knee. On the other side of the fence, she saw the vampires --three of them-- exit the Dodge and they began to scramble up the chain-link fence.  
  
Then she noticed a long thin, but sturdy looking, branch above her. Reaching up she grabbed it at its base and snapped it from the trunk. She raised her injured leg and broke the branch in half across her thigh, ridding it of most of its leaves, but it was still nearly three feet long, and now with a lethal splintered tip.  
  
Kendra turned and plunged deeper into the shadows of the woods.  
  
  
End of Part Twenty-One  
  
  
  
  
  
  
SECOND THREAD: Part Twenty-Two  
  
  
  
  
  
"And you almost burned Buffy and Willow on stakes right there in the middle of City Hall?" Faith asked, in disbelief. She shook her head. "And I thought I had issues with my mother."  
  
Joyce smiled a bit sheepishly. "Well, Buffy said it was a very powerful demon that heightened people's moral outrage." She glanced at her daughter. "I think I tripled her allowance the next day."  
  
Buffy tried to put a knowing smile on her face, but knew she didn't succeed. Then she quickly turned her eyes to the other Slayer sitting across the table from her. Joyce was sitting at her usual place at the head of the table with Buffy to her left. The exact way they had been sitting that day her mother first met Faith just a few months ago. Which suddenly seemed so long ago, with everything that had happened.  
  
Buffy had subtly tried to sit there just to keep herself between Faith and her mother but Joyce would have none of that, but, at this point, Buffy was almost convinced that the Rogue Slayer had no violent intentions during this "visit."  
  
Almost.  
  
Faith chuckled. "Seems like I always miss out on all the fun." She looked at Buffy. "Why hadn't you ever told me about this?"  
  
Buffy's voice sounded plesantly conversational, which surprised even herself. Thankfully, as they always did when they had dinner, Faith and Joyce did most of the talking. "Well, it's not exactly something for the family photo album." Then she did hear an edge of hardness enter her tone as she met Faith's eyes. "And with all that's happened recently . . it's not like there's been time to bring up much of the past."  
  
Faith didn't say anything for a moment. Then lowered her hands below the table. Buffy quickly ducked her head to look underneath the table but saw that Faith's lap was empty. When she sat up again Faith was innocently wiping her mouth with the napkin that had been resting on her lap and Buffy knew the brunette had done it on purpose and that Buffy couldn't risk the chance that she might be reaching for a hidden weapon of some kind.  
  
"What is it?" Joyce asked her.  
  
This was also the fourth time she had looked under the table and she was running out of excuses to her mother why she kept doing it. There was only so many times you can drop your fork before you start being accused of having a chronic fork-holding problem. She tried to sound nonchalant. "Oh, I thought . . I saw something."  
  
"Not another roach, was it?"  
  
Buffy shook her head as she poked at the food on her plate. "No. No. It's been a while since there's been any pests in this house." After a second she raised her eyes and looked directely at Faith.  
  
The other Slayer didn't say anything but there was a tightness in her hands as Faith folded her napkin and laid it beside her plate. Joyce had missed the small exchange, her attention still on her daughter.  
  
"You haven't hardly eaten anything," she pointed out. "Did I not get the sauce right this time?"  
  
"No," Buffy said, quickly. "Everything's great, Mom. I guess I'm just not as hungry as I thought."  
  
"You haven't really been eating much of anything, lately."  
  
"Yeah, B," Faith added. "You do look as if you've lost some weight."  
  
With a glance at the second serving on Faith's plate she was halfway through, Buffy replied, "And it looks as if you've gained some weight." And she felt a grin tugging at her lips.  
  
To her surprise, Faith grinned as well, as she sat a little straighter in her chair. "Yeah. A little. But most of it was in the chest."  
  
Joyce chuckled with Faith and her mother didn't notice Buffy's grin quickly fading.  
  
"Well, you certainly have grown a lot--" Joyce stopped, bringing a hand to her mouth. "I'm sorry. That came out wrong," she said.  
  
Again, Buffy seethed silently as the other two women continued to laughed.  
  
"I just meant," Joyce went on, "that you have changed quite a bit since you first arrived."  
  
"She certainly has," Buffy said. And realized she must have said it more bluntly than she meant to when they looked at her. After a moment she said, "She has."  
  
Faith titled her head as she regarded the blonde Slayer. "I guess you can say that it was mostly because of Buffy." A meaningful tone seemed to enter her voice. "If it wasn't for her I wouldn't be where I am today." But the look in her eyes was about as soft as a razor blade.  
  
Buffy knew exactly what she was talking about. A week ago when she pretended to be chained up in Angel's mansion she had listened to Faith rant about how everybody expected her to be just like Buffy. That Buffy was the one who got all the credit, despite the fact that Faith was just as much a Slayer as Buffy. She had to concede that Faith did have a point and, in her shoes, Buffy was sure she might have held a little resentment herself.  
  
After a few silent seconds, Buffy finally lowered her eyes and nodded. "You have come a long way," she admitted, reluctantly, in a soft voice. "But the decisions that have brought you this far were yours alone." And when she raised her eyes, they were as hard as Faith's.  
  
And Buffy was also just as sure she wouldn't have turned to evil and join the mayor, as a way to lash out at the world.  
  
"I think you should be proud of that . . Faith."  
  
Now it was Faith's turn to stew quietly and her nostils flared slightly.  
  
"Well, I'm certainly proud of both of you."  
  
Buffy couldn't keep herself from looking sharply at her mother in surprise. Could she not feel the tension in the room? she wondered. It wasn't as if the Slayers were doing a real good job of keeping the scorn for one another hidden very well. She knew her mother didn't like to dwell on such things as her daughter being the Slayer and putting herself in danger almost every single night. And it was mostly because of that denial that allowed Buffy to successfully keep her role as the Slayer a secret for the first two years.  
  
But Joyce must have misread their exchange, for she didn't notice Buffy's expression. "You two are doing something I can't imagine anyone else in the world can really do by themselves." She paused, before adding, "I mean, how many can honestly say they've saved the world?"  
  
As they all fell silent, Buffy looked at Faith again, but the brunette said nothing, and Buffy wondered what she might be thinking. That hardness in her eyes had seemed to fade for just a moment, but then returned.  
  
Faith turned to Joyce, "Hey, uh, just when we were getting all Kodak-moment-y, I gotta split."  
  
"So soon?" Joyce asked as Faith stood. "Wouldn't you like to stay for dessert?"  
  
Faith seemed to hesitate, then she glanced at Buffy, who was already out of her chair. Finally, she said, "Nah. I wish I could, but you know how things are out there."  
  
Buffy had been rounding the table, but the sound in Faith's voice had caused her to stop. It was as if there had been genuine regret there.  
  
"Maybe next time?" Joyce said.  
  
Again, Faith glanced at Buffy. The blonde Slayer could tell what Faith was thinking. That she knew this would be the last time she would ever be in this house again as a guest.  
  
"I'd like that," Faith said, to Joyce.  
  
There was another short moment of silence.  
  
"C'mon, Faith," Buffy said, surprisingly, her voice without a hint of hostility. "I'll walk you out."  
  
"Be careful out there," Joyce said, as the Slayers stepped out the front door.  
  
  
****  
  
  
Detective Stein was rotating his neck slowly, working the kinks out, and wished he still had some of that cold, stale, coffee left. But he had finished it a half hour ago. And he was wondering where Faith was. If she was planning on staying the night then this whole stakeout would be a bust. And if he stayed in this car any longer, he would have to change his mailing address as well, he thought sourly.  
  
If the chief knew he was back out here he'd probably be suspended. Or fired. Well, if tonight turned out to be a deadend, he could hope that Detective Clark had come up with a lead on Faith's new place. Find out who the mastermind behind all this was.  
  
When the small hairs on the back of his neck started to crawl he sat up a little straighter. The street in front of him was still clear. There hadn't been a car by in almost twenty minutes. Then he checked the rearview and side mirrors, and still didn't see anything.  
  
Figuring he must have imagined that feeling of being watched he settled back against the seat and tried not to focus on the tightness forming in his stiff back.  
  
***  
  
Angel stood right behind the trunk of the unmarked police car. He thought for sure the cop was going to look over his shoulder and see him and had been prepared to duck out of sight, but the detective had just looked through the mirrors.  
  
Angel recognized him as the same detective he had seen at the crime scene of the Deputy Mayor's murder and also leaving Faith's motel room after questioning her. Buffy told him that a detective stopped by her house to question her two days later and he assumed this was the same one. He wondered if she knew she was being watched.  
  
Even though Buffy might not like his skulking around her house, he decided to call and warn her, and was about to backtrack his way to find a payphone. But he was stopped when the front door to her house opened and if his heart was already not beating he figured watching Faith step out of the house would have given him a heart attack. And then, to his relief, Buffy followed the other Slayer, but remained on the porch. But during that second before she appeared Angel had thought the worst. Seemingly hundreds of images of Buffy and her mother lying dead as Faith stood over their bodies, filled his mind.  
  
Then he came back to himself, realizing he was still out in the open and ducked behind a tall hedge of bushes on the front lawn to his right.  
  
Despite his keen vampire hearing, he was still too far away to hear anything the Slayers were saying, but from their body language, especially Buffy's, having a friendly conversation they were not.  
  
***  
  
  
Faith chuckled as she stepped off the porch. "Man, B. If I'd been wearing a skirt I would've thought for sure you were trying to catch a peek."  
  
Buffy closed the front door and remained on the porch as Faith turned to face her. She crossed her arms and glared down at the brunette.  
  
"What's your game this time, Faith?"  
  
"No games," Faith replied, nonchalant.  
  
"Yeah, right. You just happened to be there when my mother was attacked? Was that your idea or your boss's?"  
  
All humor faded from Faith's expression. "Hey, believe what you want. The point is, out of all of you, Joyce was probably the only one who didn't expect me to be anything more than who I am. She never compared me to you." She paused as if expecting her to respond to that, but Buffy wasn't going to allow herself to be drawn back into that old arguement. "I figured it was the least I owed her," she continued. "Even though I was certain she wouldn't appreaciate it, because of you and me being enemies and all.  
  
"But then I realized you hadn't even told her about me," Faith grinned. "And not only does she give me a ride home, she invites me to dinner. I mean, it would have been rude of me to refuse."  
  
"And where is home, nowadays, just out of curiousity?" Buffy asked.  
  
Still grinning, Faith shook her head. "That wouldn't make the game fair now, would it?"  
  
"You know where we all live," Buffy countered, "I'd say it would level the playing field."  
  
"And let all of you gang up on me? I don't think so. And don't bother asking Joyce. She dropped me off back at my old motel."  
  
"So you had to huff it on foot back to your new place."  
  
Faith just shrugged. "Hey, it was the thought that count, y'know."  
  
They fell silent. But Faith didn't turn to leave, as if knowing Buffy had more to say. Finally, the blonde Slayer broke the silence.  
  
"I wanted to kill you," Buffy stated.  
  
Faith nodded, understandingly. "I figured as much." Then, to Buffy's unspoken question, "Xander told you he saw me with her, didn't he? Such a loyal sidekick, isn't he?"  
  
"At least he knows what loyalty is," Buffy snapped. "He would never betray his friends."  
  
"Right, because the view is great hiding behind the all-powerful Buffy," Faith sneered.  
  
Buffy nodded. "It's true Xander doesn't have a Slayer's strength, and yet he's still done more good than you've ever done."  
  
Faith didn't respond to that. Just glared at the other Slayer for several seconds.  
  
"So why didn't you?" Faith said.  
  
"What?"  
  
"Kill me?" She indicated their surroundings. "There's nothing stopping you now. Only the air between us. C'mon, B. Let's dance right here!"  
  
She looked at Buffy expectantly for a while, then lowered her arms. "You still don't have it in you. Sure, when you thought I was after your mom you were more than willing to take me out. I mean, what daughter wouldn't do that for their mom?"  
  
Buffy made sure she was looking right at Faith's eyes when she said, "You know if you ever come near her again, I will kill you."  
  
Faith did not break eye contact. "I know.  
  
"And *you* should know, B," she went on. "That if you interfere with the Mayor's plans not even I will be able to stop anything from happening to her or any of your friends. They'll be fair game."  
  
"This isn't a game Faith!" Buffy growled. "You might think walking on the dark side is fun and exciting, but you'll only end up hurting yourself and, more importantly, others."  
  
"Why would you care what happens me?" Faith demanded.  
  
This stopped Buffy, realizing what she was saying. She took a breath before she found her voice. "Because it's not too late for you."  
  
This seemed to surprise Faith as much as it did Buffy to hear herself say.  
  
The brunette narrowed her eyes. "Why do you say that?"  
  
Buffy couldn't answer right away.  
  
"Because you haven't killed anyone yet," she said, in a soft voice.  
  
Faith was caught completely off guard by that. "You don't know that!" she spat.  
  
"I do," Buffy said, calmly.  
  
"How?" Faith folded her arms across her chest.  
  
"The look in your eyes."  
  
Again, Buffy's answer caught her off guard, and before she could reply, Buffy continued.  
  
"You had the same look in them *that night* in the alley. When you found out it was a human you staked."  
  
Faith opened her mouth but didn't say anything. Couldn't.  
  
"That was the only time I saw that look in your eyes, Faith. Of regret. Remorse, over what you did. Then you hid it. Buried it. Until just now, when you turned down Mom's offer for dessert."  
  
Faith slowly closed her mouth, letting her arms fall down to her sides. She lowered her eyes away from Buffy's, but the blonde Slayer had seen the conflict within those brown eyes.  
  
Was it possible that I was finally reaching her? Buffy wondered. After all this time? After such a huge rift Faith had created, how deep she had fallen? Was there suddenly a chance to pull her out of it?  
  
"Come back to us, Faith," Buffy took a step closer to the edge, ready to descend from the porch, as if she could reach the other Slayer by physically being within reach. "Please."  
  
Then Faith raised her eyes to look at her again, and Buffy nearly took that step back. Her upper lip almost curled up in anger, Faith's eyes were cold once more, and Buffy realized there was no hope of bringing her back.  
  
"Screw you," Faith hissed. She took several breaths as if she suddenly needed to catch her breath. "Like you said, B. I've come such a long way. Why stop now?"  
  
The brunette Slayer turned to walk away, but stopped and faced Buffy again.  
  
"Oh, and you were right to keep checking to see if I had a weapon." She reached into the inside of her leather jacket and let Buffy see the hilt of the silver knife in her hand.  
  
Buffy's eyes widened slightly, her jaw tightening. "Why did you bring that if you weren't going to do anything?"  
  
Faith slipped the knife back inside her jacket. "My protection. I didn't know how you were going to react to my being here tonight."  
  
"You're not afraid of me, are you, Faith?" Buffy challenged.  
  
Faith started to sneer, about to retort, but when she met Buffy's eyes again, it slowly faded. "No more than you are of me, B," she finally said, without sarcasm.  
  
Buffy didn't reply to that. She couldn't deny it. I guess I'm not the only one who can read eyes, she thought. But she was surprised Faith would admit as much.  
  
Straightening the sides of her jacket, Faith's expression hardened once more. "Be seeing ya, B."  
  
"I guess so," Buffy said, as the other Slayer turned and headed towards the sidewalk.  
  
Buffy just stood there watching the brunette walk down the street. Faith didn't look back once and when she was three houses away, Buffy finally turned and went back inside.  
  
  
***  
  
  
Angel watched Buffy return to the house. Faith was nearly to the corner of the street and, at this time of night, would be invisible to most human eyes from this distance. He was debating on whether or not to follow Faith or check in with Buffy. Get a heads-up on the situation with Faith.  
  
Was she able to bring the Rogue Slayer back home? he wondered. From what he observed from watching their conversation, he doubted it. And if Faith was still the enemy, it might be a good idea to track her and find out where she was currently staying. But then, following a Slayer wasn't one of the easiest things for a vampire to do.  
  
The engine of the unmarked police car came to life and pulled slowly away from the curb as Faith disappeared around the corner, heading in the Slayer's direction.  
  
So the cop was here because of Faith, he thought. Then he realized this could work to his advantage. If he and the cop were both following Faith, Angel could use the detective as cover, so if she spotted the tail, she would only see the cop.  
  
Taking one last look at Buffy's house, Angel followed the car on foot.  
  
  
***  
  
  
Buffy closed the front door again and was locking it when--  
  
"You're not going to patrol with Faith?"  
  
Buffy spun around and saw her mother standing in the entrance to the dining room. Joyce just regarded her daughter, not reacting to Buffy's surprise, calmly drying her hands with a towel.  
  
"Uh, no," Buffy answered. "Like you suggested, I'm gonna stay in tonight."  
  
Joyce nodded understandingly. "Sure. Being the only Slayer is a big responsibility."  
  
Buffy couldn't reply to that right away. "Mom, there's still Faith."  
  
"I suppose I should have said you were the only Slayer on duty, right now."  
  
Joyce waited for Buffy to respond to that, but Buffy had suddenly lost her voice. She opened her mouth, searching for the words.  
  
"When were you going to tell me?" her mother asked.  
  
"You were listening?" Buffy said.  
  
This seemed to offend Joyce and a slight edge entered her tone. "I respect your privacy, Buffy. I was in the kitchen."  
  
Ouch, Buffy looked away. "I'm sorry."  
  
"It doesn't take a genius to know you two aren't friends anymore, and I know this isn't your normal falling out. That it has something to do with . . ." She allowed herself to trail off, but Buffy knew what she was referring to. Joyce had been there when Detective Stein questioned Buffy.  
  
Since Buffy was eighteen, legally, Joyce did not have to be present, but Buffy couldn't bring herself to ask her to leave the room. Not that she would have gone anyway, Buffy thought. That had been a torture worse than she could immediately recall. Not because of her lousy job of sounding convincing when she lied to the detective, but watching the horror on her mother's face when each question a little more was revealed about the Deputy Mayor's murder. To most people, the fact that Allan Finch was slain with a sharp wooden weapon would have been of no particular interest, but when your only daughter happened to be a Vampire Slayer, it held a frightening significance.  
  
But Joyce had never asked Buffy if she had been the one holding the stake. Not even after the detective left, which had frightened Buffy even more. After a couple of days she seemed to put it out of her mind and never brought the subject up, for which Buffy appreciated.  
  
"Something to do with the slaying," Joyce completed.  
  
Buffy could only nod.  
  
"And I assume Giles and your friends already know." Not waiting for an answer, she said, "I thought Xander was acting a little strange when he stopped by last night."  
  
Again, Buffy nodded. "He saw you giving Faith a ride. He wanted to make sure you were okay."  
  
"Is she dangerous?"  
  
"She's a Slayer," Buffy said, softly.  
  
"You're a Slayer."  
  
If Joyce had slapped her, Buffy's reaction would have been no different, but the pain in her daughter's expression didn't seem to deter her. Feeling the beginning of tears burning her eyes and not wanting to break down right there, Buffy narrowed her eyes and allowed some of her pent up rage to come forth.  
  
"If you had a feeling that Faith might be dangerous, why did you go through with having her over for dinner?"  
  
"I don't know your reasons for not being friends anymore. Maybe those reasons wouldn't have been mine."  
  
"Fair enough," Buffy said, after a beat. "But if you knew what was going--"  
  
"Don't even think about finishing that sentence, young lady!"  
  
Her mother's sharp tone quickly shut Buffy's mouth. Not since last year had Buffy heard her this upset. Not since after Buffy came back from running away last spring.  
  
"How am I suppose to know what's going on in my daughter's life when she won't even tell me?"  
  
"You made it perfectly clear that you want to know as little about my slaying duties as possible!" Buffy managed to respond.  
  
"So, in turn, you tell me absolutely nothing?" Joyce demanded.  
  
This time, there was nothing Buffy could do to keep the tears from filling her eyes. "I'm not a mind reader, Mom! And you never asked me about anything! Can you imagine what it's like waiting for your own mother to ask you if you're a murderer?"  
  
"How about wondering if your daughter is a murderer?" Joyce countered.  
  
"It was an accident!" Buffy shouted. "We didn't know--"  
  
Buffy stopped, covering a hand over her mouth, and the first tear rolled down her cheek. Joyce quickly took the steps that were separating them and Buffy threw her arms around her mother.  
  
"Buffy, it's all right," she whispered, letting Buffy cry into her shoulder.  
  
"I'm sorry, Mom," Buffy sobbed. "I wanted to tell you. I just . . . couldn't."  
  
When the Slayer calmed down, Joyce steered her towards the living room. "Let's sit down and you can tell me what happened. I'm sure you'll feel a lot better."  
  
Buffy, trying to regain her composure, wiped her eyes. "I thought I had already dealt with this."  
  
"Honey, it's hardly been more than a month since it's happened. And keeping it from me couldn't have been easy."  
  
"You have no idea," Buffy said, as they sat down on the couch. "Or, maybe you do. But . . . what happened when . . ." She still couldn't bring herself to say it, even now, when she was about tell her mother everything. "That was only the beginning."  
  
Her mother took her hand, urging Buffy to continue. After that, there was no hesitation in her voice.  
  
  
  
End of Part Twenty-Two 


End file.
